The Will of the Force
by SapOzh
Summary: It's a time travel story about Revan and Mission. They find themselves about four thousand years in the future with the Star Forge still intact.
1. Prologue

**This is the second version of the prologue.**

**A/N: **

It's time travel story about Revan and Mission. They find themselves about four thousand years in the future with the Star Forge still intact.

_The Green Goblin:_ Powerful but **not** god-like Revan will be. An evil bad-ass bastard he will be not. Mission a Force-sensitive is.

I'm absolutely in love with Mission, but I'm not sure if it will be Revan/Mission pairing. I would really appreciate your opinion on this matter.

I'm not a native English speaker. English is my third language, so please bear with me. I would really like to read some reviews.

I use an assumption that Valrykino is the Naberrie's villa.

**Merry Christmas to you all!**

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue.<strong>

Revan knew he won't make it. Republic fleet was going to blow the Star Forge before he could get away. He didn't blame them, since there was no way to tell if he would defeat Malak. If there was an opportunity to destroy the station, they should use it. Another explosion shook the station causing the ceiling in the passage to crumble and block the way to the Ebon Hawk. He sighed and stopped running.

When he helped Bastila to turn from the Dark Side, he asked her to return to the Ebon Hawk and defend the ship with everyone. He felt it was the right thing to do. The last Force vision showed him three outcomes of the confrontation with Malak and destruction of the Star Forge. The first one was death of every single friend: the station was blown up by the Republic with everyone onboard. The second one – he was the only one who died. At least he hoped so, since he saw the Ebon Hawk successfully undock the station with Bastila, Carth, Zaalbar and Comndore on it. He assumed Mission and droids were with them. The third option was to embrace the Dark Side. Surprisingly everyone would live, they would defeat Malak and then he would take his place, but he couldn't sacrifice the whole Republic for his own life. It was obvious he would choose the second option.

He reached his friends using the Force and was glad to sense Bastila on the board of their ship.

"Get out of here, Bastila," he said using a comlink. "I won't make it to the ship."

"No way! You can make it," she shouted.

"The way to the Deck 1 is blocked, Bastila."

"Mission isn't on the board yet."

"What?"

He concentrated for a moment and sensed Mission on the right side of the hall. She was lying on the floor unconscious. He rushed to her being angry with himself for not sensing the Twi'Lek earlier and took her in his arms.

"Bastila, get out of here. The station will blow up any moment," he said heartbroken, knowing he couldn't save the young Twi'Lek.

"What about Mission?"

"She is here with me. There is no way we can make it in time."

"Taren..."

"Take off, or else everyone is going to die."

"I'm sorry," she said and he sensed her moving farther and farther from the station.

"Take care, Bastila," he whispered.

He sighed and looked at Mission, who was regaining her senses.

"Taren?" she said.

"What the Sith were you doing here?"

"I didn't want to leave you behind. I felt you needed me, you were sacrificing yourself. I believe I was knocked off by some explosion."

"That was so stupid... You should have stayed on the Ebon Hawk," he sighed.

"Shouldn't we hurry?"

"We have nowhere to go, Mission."

"Why?" she asked confused.

"The way to the Deck 1 was destroyed."

"Oh, but there is another way, isn't there?"

"There is a way around it, but we wouldn't make it. I'm sorry I dragged you into this mess."

Her head dropped as she realised they had mere seconds to live. Revan pulled her closer to him being unable to cope with the fact she would die. They became close friends during their quest for the Star Forge.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

The next moment an explosion shook the station and Revan screamed putting everything he's got into the desperate attempt to protect Mission, reaching deep into the Force, praying the girl would live. The exploding flare blinded him for a moment, but he was alive and he could feel Mission in his arms. Looking around he was stunned with the sight of the Star Forge fully undamaged. What was even stranger, he could tell that the Star Forge was inactive. The lights were the way he stepped aboard Star Forge for the first time.

"What happened?" asked Mission as she opened her eyes. "For a moment I thought it was over. Why is everything alright again?"

"I don't know."

"We aren't dead, are we?"

"I hope not, because it's not what I thought my afterlife would be like."

"But how?"

"The Force knows, Mission."

"Eeh, Taren, I don't really mind, but could you put me down?" she said blushing.

"Oh, yes," he said as released her. "Come on, if it's what I think it is we need to get to the Command Center again."

As they moved through the station, he was more and more concerned. Star Forge was intact and inactive. That could mean only one thing: they travelled back to the time before he and Malak found the Star Forge. Soon they reached the Command Center and went up to the control panel.

"So, it was inactive for thousands years," he said, as he reactivated the station.

"What does it mean?"

"We are in the past." There was a moment of silence.

"Actually, we are not," she objected, looking at the control panel.

"Wait, you're right. But it's even more ridiculous. There is no way we are in the future. The Star Forge was destroyed."

"And still the star field analysis is unambiguous. We are three thousand twenty years in the future. At least we are alive... Wait what's about Big Z and others? Are they here too?"

"No, there are no docked ships and sensors don't register the Ebon Hawk anywhere near the station."

"Are they alive?"

"They took off the station," he nodded, "so they were alive, but it's four thousand years."

Her eyes widened and she whispered, "So they're all long dead."

"It seems so."

"Can we go back?"

"I don't know how, Mission. I'm sorry."

She sighed, "Don't be sorry. If not for you I would be dead on Taris, I wouldn't see my brother and help you saving the galaxy from the Siths. And I hope they lived good long lives after we destroyed the Star Forge. I just don't understand how the Star Forge can be whole once again."

"Only the Force knows. We would need to reach the Republic if it still exists and search through archives to understand what's going on. I would say we did end up in some alternate reality, where I hadn't found the Star Forge."

"Should we destroy it?"

"No, it can't be the coincidence. There are no coincidences. The Force wouldn't save the station with us if it wouldn't be needed. I sense it's somehow important. We should go to the Core Worlds and investigate everything."

"How? You said there were no docked ships."

"It's the Star Forge, we can create everything from nothing," he smiled. "The only problem is the vessel schematics in the Star Forge database are tens of thousands years old."

"I have schematics of the Ebon Hawk. I was playing with it designing upgrades."

"That's good news. Could you upload it?"

"Which one? Original one, the Ebon Hawk or my own upgraded version? Could we try the upgraded one?"

"What did you upgrade?"

"Here, hyperdrive generator TN204, which raises rating up to 0.5, if you tweak the motivator and add some power to the null quantum field generator. However it's dangerous, so I would leave the default configuration and be satisfied with hyperdrive Class 0.7."

"Where did you get the blueprint?"

"Bought them by that Rodian on the Yavin Station," she looked at his surprised face and raised an eyebrow, "What? You gave me lot money, you know? And I had fun playing with schematics."

"Did you buy something else?"

"Yes, deflector shields blueprint, automatic targeting system, improved weaponry and heavily modified SFT98 sublight engine blueprint."

"And you managed to integrate it into the Ebon Hawk?"

"Well yes, the components were highly compatible; they were built in other Dynamic-class freighters, so it wasn't even a problem. It's just... I kind of liked the ship. I had really good time on the Ebon Hawk. I wanted to upgrade it, make it better, you know?"

"Hope your ship won't kill us the moment we turn the hyperdrive on."

"That was mean" she pouted. "I'm sure we'll be fine, but if you think…"

"I was teasing you, Mission. I trust you, but we have to be sure. Upload your schematics and original ones. I will start the production. If your version is good, we will use it."

"Wait a moment," she said pleased with his acceptance. "Done."

"So ships will be fly-ready in about an hour. Let's head to the Deck 1, where they will be docked."

"Wait! You said an hour, didn't you?"

"That's the power of the Star Forge. Let's go, there is nothing for us here anymore."

"So are we going to destroy the station?" she asked as they headed to the Deck 1.

"I already said we won't destroy it. Not now. We will use it before destroy it."

"You're scary. It's the Sith's way to destroy something of no use."

"Mi, don't be Bastila."

"So you aren't turning dark again?" she teased.

"Why? I am," he smirked, "you should call me Lord Revan."

"Oh, I want a new name too."

"It's my real name, Mission."

"Not a point. I want a new name."

"You are such a child sometimes."

"I'm not," she said sticking her tongue out, and demanded, "A new name."

"Lady Arven," he sighed.

"It's an anagram for Revan! I like it," she giggled, "But I would appreciate if you'd call me Mission."

"As you wish, Lady Arven."

"Hey!"

An hour later they were on the Deck 1 looking at two Dynamic-class freighters, which looked so much like Ebon Hawk.

"It's hard to imagine out friends are gone," Mission said looking down.

"Yes, it's like they're going to go down the ramp any moment."

"Let's not talk about it."

"Okay, Mi," he nodded, "I want to test your configuration before we take off."

"I'll help," she said as she ran after him to the ship.

He was surprised how well she integrated everything. Of course upgrades were on paper only, and he doubted they would have upgraded the Ebon Hawk this way. But he found far too many problems to use the ship safely.

"Sorry, Mission. There is no way we can use this ship," he sighed. "The hyperdrive and relativistic shield are completely unstable."

"I know," he nodded sadly.

"Don't get upset, you did really good work."

"I should have thought about better reactor and capacity of the energy grid."

"You can work on it; we will return to the Star Forge later and try again."

"Really?"

"Yes, let's go to another ship."

The second ship was perfect copy of the Ebon Hawk and it worked perfectly. They took off the station and after short stop at Rakata Prime to fill the consumables headed to the Coruscant. The way to Coruscant would take seven days they could use to cope with the fact they wouldn't be able to see their friends ever again. Revan was grateful that he still had Mission, and he was sure that Mission didn't mind to be with him either.

The main problem was they didn't know much about the galaxy. What had changed in the last thousand years? What was different in this universe? Revan sighed, closed his eyes and began to meditate plunging deeper and deeper into the Force. There was something very disconcerting. Everything was clouded by the Sith alchemy. If not for his knowledge of the Dark Side, he wouldn't be able to get through it. But what was really strange, he knew that it wasn't doing of the true Sith. He didn't sense them in fact. Since he had remembered about them a few days ago, he could sense them, but no more... The alchemy was a result of manipulations of a very small group of Force users. Powerful Sith on par with himself. And if they needed the technique, they were plotting something... dangerous. Revan couldn't let the Sith know about him or Mission, so he concealed both of them from farsight.

At last their trip to Core was over; the ship got out of the hyperspace and Mission immediately activated holonet receiver. Revan didn't want to disturb her and directed the Ebon Hawk to Coruscant.

"Hey, Taren. There is not a word about you, Malak or the Star Forge," the young Twi'Lek said.

"Was there a war?"

"Yes, even the destruction of Taris is there."

"That's odd."

"Wow! There is so much about Bastila! She was a hero. A bloody icon! The official chronicle claims she was the one who defeated the Siths."

"So, nothing about Taren Koht, Revan, Carth..."

"Actually there is much about Carth. He was made an Admiral. I hope I didn't die on Taris in this reality," she sighed. "There are too many holes in the chronicles."

"Jedi should have a good archive, if they exist of course."

"The Jedi Order is there. The temple is located on Coruscant," Mission answered.

"But it's not like we can go there and demand to provide us with access to the archive."

"Okay, I have some good news and I have some bad news."

"Good new first, please," he laughed.

"Our credit chips. They are valid."

"And bad news?"

"The total inflation over last four thousand years is more than ten thousand percent.

"So, we just went bankrupt."

"Yes," she nodded gravely, "How much do you have?"

"Let's see... 298,441 credits."

"I have got 48,219. So it's 2,493 credits now. Docking fee on Coruscant is 400 credits as one-time payment and 100 credits for each day. Furthermore we'll need fuel - 200 credits and a package of consumables for our ship – 480 credits. 1,413 credits to go."

"I have an idea how to make money, but at first we should head to some cosy cafe and eat something more tolerable than that piece of Sith's crap we got on Rakata Prime."

"Language, Taren."

"Yes, yes, I've got a child with me," he teased her.

"I'm not a child!" she exclaimed and pouted.

"You are so easy to tease."

"Jerk. You know, I never was on Coruscant..."

"I know, Mission, but really, you've missed nothing."

"Why? It's beautiful! It's kind of like Taris Upper City, but much better. Are there any differences to the Coruscant of our time?"

"Not really. It's almost the same."

"Do you want to go in there?" she asked looking at small cafe.

"Why not? It looks good."

Revan was satisfied. It was cosy inside. They sat down to table and ordering something to eat. Mission didn't waste time and used her holographic comlink to search the holonet for important information.

"Taren, what are we going to do?" she asked.

"I would say, we find some beautiful planet, go there and live peacefully for some time. However we should learn more about this time first."

"Did you think about Jedi? We could ask them for help."

"I don't think it's a good idea. I don't trust them. The first thing we need is money. We're going to use the station."

"The station!" she realised, her eyes widened.

"Yes, would you like to search the holonet for some helpful schematics?"

"I'm on it."

Revan didn't want to distract her, so he sat and meditated for an hour.

"I found many things. There are no good ship blueprints with a free access, but there are blueprints in the Archive of the Judical Arcology. Why the Sith are the blueprints there?"

"Let's see," he said being surprised. Four thousand years ago blueprints were archived in the Republic Naval Archive. He was astonished, when he read about the Republic Navy, "Force! They don't even have a Navy!"

"Well, they didn't have any serious enough conflict for last... thousand years," Mission said and smiled, "And surprise! They heard nothing about the Siths for nearly as long! I think without the Siths out there, the Republic became more secure." She expected some reaction from him, but he remained quiet. She sighed and patiently waited.

"It's disturbing," he said at last after twenty minutes, "take notice of starships and technologies they use."

"What's wrong with them?"

"I don't think you had time to be interested in battlecruisers of our time. If you compare them to current vessels, you'll find current ones to be only shadows of real warships. There are some good freighters though. I can't find any information about a lot of technologies, like the stealth field generator or personal shields."

"What? There is no stealth field generator? What's happening with the Republic?"

"The Republic is dying away, that's what happening. Look at economical situation. For three hundred years after the Ruusan Reformation, whatever it was, the Republic was blossoming, but then it begun to decline. Look at this list of most influential corporations, what do you see?"

"I don't understand what you mean. They're becoming wealthier. It's a good thing, isn't it?"

"I would normally say yes, but the Republic itself is growing weaker, individual worlds grow poorer, the poverty rises."

"Wait, these corporations have more money than most worlds."

"Yes, and if we trust these holonet discussions, the Senate is becoming more and more corrupt. Money controls the Senate. And who controls money?"

"Corporations."

"Well, you get the picture."

"It's horrible. Can it be the reason we're here in this particular time?"

"I believe it's a part of the reason. We wouldn't need the station if this was the reason. But the situation as it is could escalate in the future to armed conflicts or a full-scale civil war. Then we would need the station."

"Should we do something to prevent it? I don't want something like the destruction of Taris happens again."

"We need to prepare first. I don't feel it's urgent to do something right now. What is more important, the Republic needs a kick to cleanse itself. If we decide to help, it would be only damage control, not prevention."

"But…"

"Not buts. Corruption won't cease to exits like that and even a strong leader won't help. Right now let's focus on our own lives for a change. I want to rest, to be free from constant fighting, to lead a peaceful life on some distant peaceful world for some time. We're in the new world and I'm sure the thousand-years-old Republic won't die at once without our intervention."

"I guess you're right," Mission sighed.

"Anyway we need to get to the Judicial Arcology."

"The problem is only Jedi and members of the Judicial Department have access to the Archive."

"It shouldn't be guarded too well."

"Are you sure you want to start the life in this time with an attempt to break in to the Judicial Department?" she smiled.

"Do we have an option? We could earn money by other means, but it's inefficient when we have the Star Forge."

"I hope we don't get caught," Mission frowned.

"We won't."

The Republic had no stealth field generators; it shouldn't be difficult to get in using one. Soon they left the cafe and took a shuttle to get to the Judicial Arcology. On the way they studied everything they could find about security systems used by Judicial Department. It didn't seem to be any different he was being used to and without stealth field detectors it was going to be easy. But he frowned when he saw Jedi guarding the entrance alongside non-Jedi. It was only a young padawan but he didn't want to run into a Master who could sense him and Mission.

"Let's go," Revan said after they explored the district and the building of the Judicial Arcology.

"What? Now?"

"I meant to the ship, Mission," he laughed. "We need a plan."

"You're crazy enough to go there without any plan."

"I don't want to take unnecessary risk."

"Well, that's most unusual," she snickered and followed him to the shuttle.

The pair returned to the Ebon Hawk and sat in the main hub looking at few holopictures from the holonet taken inside of the Judicial Arcology.

"How about distraction?" Mission asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll be a distraction and I'll sneak in and do the job."

"It's too dangerous for you," he frowned.

"As if it wasn't dangerous on the Leviathan."

"We had no choice. Mission, there are Jedi; they'll sense you without me. We'll go together."

"And a distraction?"

"No, we don't need them to be alarmed. Distractions aren't always useful," he looked at holopictures and said, "Take a look. We're lucky, some imbecile officer managed to take a holopicture of him and his friends in the security room. It's a security terminal."

"But there is no way we will be there alone."

"We don't need to. Do you see this small console on next picture? It's located in the technical room next to the security room."

"How do you know it?"

"See that table behind the door?"

"Oh, yes, it's the same table."

"Well, I'm sure the console and the terminal are connected, so we know how to bring security under control."

"Why don't we do it at night?"

"They will be much more attentive at night. Who in the right mind would suspect someone with stealth field generator, especially a strong Force user to break in to the Judicial Department in broad daylight?"

"Right," she smiled. "Only some maniacal former Sith Lord would do it."

"When did I become maniacal?" Revan asked rising an eyebrow. "Anyway, let's rest."

The next day they took a shuttle to the Judicial Arcology again. As soon as they were there, Mission followed Revan into the dark alley where they activated stealth field generators and went to the Judicial Arcology. Revan was hiding his and Mission's signatures; a bit surprised that she was so bright in the Force. 'How the Sith did I and Bastila miss it? She needs to be tested on Force-sensitivity,' he thought. They infiltrated without any problems, went through the security room into the technical room. Once inside Mission used her skills to slice into console, which had direct access to the security terminal and after five minutes gained access to the security systems.

"Piece of cake," she whispered smiling.

"Don't be overconfident," he said.

Revan wasn't really surprised by the poor security of the place. It's not likely somebody would ever break in. They met only three guards and two Jedi who sensed nothing. Before long they got into the Archive. It was empty, so Mission disabled the surveillance and they switched off stealth field generators to save energy.

"What should I copy?" Mission asked.

"Start with starships of our time. Centurion-class battlecruiser, Interdictor-class cruiser, Aurek-class tactical starfighter, Praetorian-class frigate, Hammerhead-class cruiser and other vessels. I hope you can sort them by year they were used. Then take a look at current ships and some battle droids."

"Yes, a moment please. There is some protection on the data."

"Can you break it?"

"Of course. Don't forget who you are speaking to," Mission said, "Let's see... They're lazier than in our time. I'm in; you have access on the second terminal. I'm transferring blueprints."

"How long does it take?"

"About twenty minutes."

"Way too long," Revan frowned searching database for useful information.

"I know, it's a part of the protection, can't speed it up. There are more than fifty blueprints," she sighed. "Hey, there is a history archive."

"Can you copy it too?"

"Everything? No, not enough memory."

"Download everything they've got on time from that war with Mandalorian to the defeat of the Siths by Bastila."

"Okay," she nodded and continued to work on computer. Some minutes later she cried out,"Someone is heading this way! They're on a security camera."

"Were they alerted?" he looked at security panel, and sighed, "No they're not alerted, but they're Jedi. Turn your stealth field on."

The next moment two friends became invisible. They waited until Jedi came to the room, but surprisingly the older Jedi with long hair stopped in the middle of the room.

"Something is not right," he said.

"I have a bad feeling too, Master," answered his padawan with a short brown hair.

Revan cursed silently. The older one had a strong connection to the Force and somehow felt his presence. He had to be a master. The former Sith knew he couldn't wait any longer. The Jedi would reveal him and then it could be a problem, so he used powerful Force push crashing both unprepared Jedi into the wall. They didn't move, but he was relieved that they were just unconscious. He knew that other Jedi likely felt the disturbance, but hoped no one would identify it.

"How much time do we need?" he asked Mission.

"A minute."

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's hurry; we need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Are they alright?" she asked.

"Yes, just unconscious."

"That crash looked painful."

"I had to do it quick, so they wouldn't have time to react."

"I'm done. Let's go."

He nodded and they went through the building and left the Judicial Arcology. Soon they returned to the Ebon Hawk. They decided to return to the Star Forge to start the production.

"So, what information was in the historical archive?" Revan asked when they took off from Coruscant.

"Wait, I'm uploading everything to the main computer," she said.

"Let's see..." he breathed. "Well, there was a Sith Lord Revan"

"It's hilarious!" Mission exclaimed laughing, "The other you was married to Bastila and had a kid."

"I and Bastila? Force help me," he sighed and facepalmed. "It must be some kind of mistake. There is no way... I and Bastila..."

"No, Taren, there is no mistake."

"It's ridiculous. Stop laughing," he said being annoyed.

"Well, your denial makes me laugh."

"Ah, shut up, Mission. It seems I and Malak never found the Star Forge and used other means to create a fleet."

"There is a word about me," she said happily. "The other I didn't die on Taris."

"Good," he smiled.

"Why did they hide everything?" Mission asked.

"I'm not sure," he said frowning, "I guess, Jedi didn't want to have a former Sith Lord as a hero. Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore."

"What are we going to sell using the Star Forge?"

"Small ships only. Centurion and Interdictor are way too dangerous and I would say we sell only limited amount of Hammerheads. By the way, we need to duplicate stealth field generators, so the Star Forge would be able to produce them and cloaking devices."

"We can't sell ships using legal channels, can we?" Mission asked.

"No, it would raise too many questions. We could post them on private auctions in the Hutt Space," he suggested, "Do you want to help me with blueprints?"

"What do you need?"

"We need something to conceal our identities, so I suggest we design masks to cover our faces, armor to defend ourselves and robes with hoods to hide everything else. Take a look at this blueprint I managed to get there. It's a Jedi armor, resistant to blaster bolts and lightsaber." he turned holoprojector on.

"Resistant to lightsaber?" her eyes widened.

"Not completely. Armor plates don't protect you from a thrust, but they're resistant enough to hold off fast slashes. It's not wise to rely on it though, there are far too many unarmored spots. I will use it and mandalorian mask. You can choose what you want for yourself."

"I don't need any armor," she complained, "I mean a personal shield was always sufficient."

"We don't want to look weak, Mission, so please do it for me."

"Okay, okay," she sighed. "I'll use it too."

"Let's work on it."

Soon they reached the ancient station, docked and went to the command center. They didn't want to stay there more than needed, so as soon as they finished a construction of a Hammerhead-class cruiser, corellian YT-1250, two set of armor, masks and a blood analyser, they took the YT and docked it to the cruiser.

"Why did we need an YT? It's not nearly as good as our Dynamic," Mission asked as they jumped to the Hutt Space.

"Well, I'd like to keep the Ebon Hawk out of it; we don't need any additional attention to it."

"Oh," she answered. "Taren, are we going to Nar Shaddaa to put it up for auction?"

"Yes," he nodded,"By the way, you should call me Revan for the time being. We don't want anyone to know our names. You can choose your name yourself."

"Why? I already have a name. Arven."

"Good," he smiled recalling the way this name was made up, "As soon as we get to the Nar Shaddaa put everything including a mask on."

"Ta… I mean, Revan, are these masks any good?" she asked, putting the mask on, "Wow! The HUD is just awesome! I'll be back," she mumbled and swept out of the bridge. Ten minutes later she returned in her new attire. "Revan, how do I look? I look Bad-ass, don't I?" she asked.

"Perfect, Arven," he said and laughed.

"What's so funny? Do I look funny" the Twi'Lek frowned.

"You look great, Arven. It's just you being so enthusiastic."

"Well," she smiled, "It's the best thing I ever wore."

Two days later they left the hyperspace in Y'Toub system and Revan directed the cruiser to the Nar Shaddaa.

"The docking fee for out ship is 1200 credits, Revan." Mission said.

"It's alright, we have 1380 credits," he sighed and landed the ship on a landing platform paying the fee.

"Let's hope somebody will buy the cruiser fast. I'll put the ship up for a standard day with four million as a starting price."

"Okay, I'll clean the navigation journal."

"Let's go for a walk, Revan," She said after few minutes.

"No, it's not as secure as Coruscant. I don't think the world became any better in the last four thousand years. We'll stay on board until the buyer come for the ship."

"But I wanted to see this world," she pouted.

"It's too dangerous here without proper…" he was interrupted by incoming holocall on Mission's comlink.

"The holocall is from Nat T'arkuma and it's marked as urgent. Let's see who he is..."

"Don't bother, I already found the Twi'Lek. He is representing a Hutt, who controls this sector of Nar Shaddaa. I'll speak to him," he said and answered the call and the hologram of a male Twi'Lek with green skin appeared, "How may I help you?"

"I'm Nat T'arkuma and I'm representing someone influential, who controls this part of the world. The rumour reached us that you're selling certain cruiser in our sector."

"Yes, it's true."

"You see, Nar Shaddaa is a dangerous place."

"Sure it is."

"That's why it would be wise to insure your current business and pay for protection. We don't want anything happen to either you or the ship, do we?"

"No, we don't," Revan decided to agree, since they would sell more ships on the moon in the future.

"We would gladly guarantee your safety for only thirty percent of your profit."

"I would offer ten percent. We're thinking about putting up more… cruisers on auction in the near future."

"It is most interesting," Nat said slowly. "But you should offer us twenty percent. We would be more interested in your safety this way."

"Well then, it's settled. Twenty percents and you guarantee our safety for this and future auctions," he said.

"You should have received all needed information. It's pleasure to do business with you."

"Thank you, the same to you," he said and turned the holocall off.

"I didn't think you would agree," Mission mumbled confused.

"It would be stupid to make profit here without an agreement with the Hutt. However, I didn't expect them to react this fast. Make sure to change the auction's details and send the confirmation to the Nat T'arkuma."

"Done," she sighed, "What're we going to do until the end of auction?"

"We have something to do," he smiled, "let me take a blood sample from you, please."

"Why?"

"I want to check something."

"What?"

"Don't be silly, you should trust me."

"Well… I guess you won't do something… bad," she said, took off the glove and extended her hand.

He took the blood, reached for analyser and launched the test. He wasn't really surprised with the result. He knew she was Force-sensitive since they broke to the Judicial Arcology. He was astonished however by her midi-chlorian count. He and Bastila were really blind. They were focused on their mission though and didn't really consider a possibility of Mission's Force-sensitivity. He knew she had very good intuition, but he always dismissed it believing it was only a coincidence. He hoped they would have time to train her properly if she would be willing to train at all.

"Hey, what is it? Why are you frowning?" Mission asked panicking. "Something is wrong, isn't it? Am I going to die? If…"

"Whoa, Mission, slow down. Everything is alright."

"Thank the Force! Don't scare me like that!"

"I wasn't even trying!" Revan laughed and asked, "What do you know about midi-chlorians?"

"What is it?"

"You have sixteen thousands midi-chlorians per cell. Quite remarkable."

"So, it's good, isn't it?"

"Yes, it indicates that you have a strong natural connection to the Force."

"Am I Force-sensitive?"

"Yes. Almost every Jedi has at least seven thousand midi-chlorians per cell. I have fifteen thousand."

"So I could become stronger than you!"

"Actually the midi-chlorian count says nothing about the strength of the Force user. Yes, you have it easier to reach the same strength as me, but it doesn't mean you would reach it. Let's take Exar Kun for example. He wasn't any less powerful than me, but his midi-chlorians count was only nine thousand. He became strong through dedication and hard work. Anyway, what I was saying is I would like to be your teacher, if you wish to learn the way of the Force."

"I would love it," she said and frowned, "But how the Sith I'm the Force-sensitive? How did you know and why didn't you test me earlier?"

"Well, I don't know how you are a Force-sensitive. I guess one of your parents could be Force-sensitive or it's just a coincidence. I felt it when I shielded you from Jedi in the Judicial Arcology. You were remarkably bright in the Force. I'm not sure why I didn't see it earlier; I guess we had no time to consider it. I never tried to look at you through the Force, there was no need. Moreover my abilities were much more limited than now. I remember much more of my previous life than before. Every day more memories return to me."

She sighed and looked at her holonet receiver, "There are some bids already. When will you teach me?"

"Our life is too chaotic now; let's start when we settle down. I would like to have some place to call a home before I begin to teach you."

"I guess it makes sense. I would like to have a home too; I never had a real home."

"It doesn't mean I can't teach you here and there," he smiled.

Soon the auction came to the end and the ship was sold for nine million credits. For next three months they were constantly traveling between the Star Forge and Nar Shaddaa, where they would sell warships and return to the ancient station. They earned more than three hundred million credits already. Since two friends proved to be trustworthy the pair would bring ships after each auction's end. This time Revan and Mission were transporting a single Hammerhead frigate. Revan docked the ship on their personal landing platform and send a message to the Hutt, who immediately send guards. The Hutt was making anything to secure an unexpected income, so the Twi'Lek and the former Sith Lord were most welcome here on Nar Shaddaa.

"Our clients should be here any moment now," Revan said when they went down the ramp from the ship.

"I have a really bad feeling about this deal," Mission frowned.

"Something bugging me too," Revan sighed, "We have to be careful. Please, stay behind me all the time. Let me be always between you and everyone else."

"Don't be so overprotective; I can take care of myself."

"I know, but I would feel better if you would follow my advice."

"Right," she sighed. "Don't worry, I'll be careful."

"Here they are," said Revan looking at two hooded individuals approaching their landing platform. Something wasn't right. Their hoods weren't suspicious, since most clients would like to be anonymous. He couldn't understand if clients were the reason or something else. As he could feel they weren't Force users, but then again they could use Force Concealment like he concealed himself and Mission.

"Good day," said first client as they came to Revan and Mission. "We would like to examine the ship before we round transaction."

"As you wish," Revan said. "Follow me."

He signalled Mission to go first, then turned around and followed her to the frigate. He was very careful with both clients though. He was secretly trying to break the concealment if there was one. Everything seemed to be alright for first minutes of examination, but then as they reached the main cargo hold he finally found it and broke the concealment realizing who the two clients were. He remembered these signatures from the Judicial Arcology. Two Jedi who were unlucky to go to the Archive that day. He knew that they felt they lost their concealment, so he instantly summoned both lightsaber to the hand and a moment later four weapons met each other.

"So, you are the one who attacked us in the Archive of the Judicial Department," the older one said.

'It's so unfortunate I didn't push them stronger that day,' Revan thought. He growled, as they exchanged blows. The older one was very accomplished swordsman, surely one of the strongest he ever faced. However his choice to use Ataru in a confined space of a starship wasn't wise, even if he was a master of the forth form. The second disadvantage of the older Jedi was his age; he wasn't in his prime. The younger one though was interesting and he sensed that the padawan would become a great Jedi if survive.

"The Force is strong with you, young one," Revan said, taking him aback with this comment and using the moment to push him with the Force, "But you still have much to learn."

The padawan managed to recover and rejoin the battle.

"We found traces of what you were searching the archive for," the older Jedi said.

"Either way you don't have any evidences against me," Revan replied.

"Who are you, darksider?"

"Should I tell the truth, half-truth or lie?" Revan smirked being confused at their reference to the Dark Side. He wasn't using the Dark Side right now, but then he realized that their constant visits to the Star Forge left a trace of the Dark Side on him and Mission. "Besides it's only polite to introduce yourself first."

"If it helps us to get some information from you, I'm Qui-Gon Jinn."

Revan smiled under his mask. The older Jedi was somehow amused even if he was very wary. Of course he would be amused, since he without a doubt couldn't feel any evil intent towards them. Revan didn't want to harm Jedi and so their conversation made only so much sense.

"I guess, I can introduce myself too. I'm the Lord of the Sith Revan."

"Well," the Jedi sighed blocking another Revan's strike, "that was obviously a lie."

"I didn't say I was going to tell a truth," Revan said laughing. "I suggest you change the form, Master Jinn. Ataru won't work against me."

"You are too overconfident."

"No," Revan answered, "I'm merely stating the fact. I can tell you were strong in your prime, but now you're at disadvantage here."

"You intrigue me," Qui-Gon said breaking lightsaber contact and taking a distance after his padawan received another Force push. "You merely defending yourself, none of your moves are attacking ones."

"It might have something to do with the fact I don't want to fight you, Jedi. We're on the same side, but you're attacking me though. Most unjedi-like behaviour. I'm deeply disappointed."

"You're selling licensed and limited to the Republic forces only warships," the Jedi said engaging in the lightsaber fight again his padawan followed him.

"I'm selling them in the Hutt Space, which isn't controlled by the Republic. Even so, if I found some of them, why shouldn't I sell them? I didn't break any law."

"You don't really hope to convince us that you found them, do you?"

"There is no evidence I manufactured them."

"You attacked us!" the padawan exclaimed.

"Again, you have no evidences that it was me. I suggest you lower your weapons and we close the deal and say goodbye to each other until you actually find some evidences."

"I doubt we will lower weapons," the younger Jedi growled.

"Oh, is that your anger I feel?" Revan asked the padawan. "You should better learn to control your emotions, young one. You don't want to fall to the Dark Side, do you? Well, I don't have all the time in the universe to play games with you, Jedi. I was attacked, so I guess, I have right to defend myself. No hard feelings, please," he said and created powerful stasis field to freeze both Jedi at once. It worked but he could feel that Qui-Gon could resist and would be out of it a minute later. "Arven, let's go to the hangar. We leave the frigate here, since Jedi surprisingly paid for it."

They rushed to the YT-1250 and took off before Jedi could do something to stop them. Besides Jedi knew they were no match for the mysterious Force-user. Of course, after the incident Revan and Mission decided to slow down, but contacted the Hutt anyway informing him about their troubles. The Hutt found a solution. They would send ships for sale to him without a need to travel to Nar Shaddaa so they and the Hutt would have income.

"Were they strong?" Mission asked as they went into the hyperspace.

"Qui-Gon was strong. His mastery of lightsaber fight is flawless, but he is lacking the power behind his moves due to his age. He would be formidable opponent ten years ago. Pity he doesn't use Force techniques to slow down his aging."

"Is that possible?"

"Of course."

"Awesome!"

"Yes, Mission, the Force is awesome," he laughed.

"What about the younger one?"

"He has a great potential, but he needs a strong kick up the bottom, or else his potential won't bloom."

"Will I be stronger than them?"

"I don't know. It's up to you, Mission. It's not about power though, understanding and mastery of the Force is what truly matters."

"Right. Are you going to tech me now?" Mission asked.

"Yes, as soon as we choose a world to settle down. We still need to go to the Coruscant."

"Oh! I completely forgot about applicants! They will await us in six days."

"I'm glad the construction of shipyards and factory was completed in time."

Six day later they were interviewing applicants in the headquarters of the Vao-Koht Engineering, the company they opened a month ago. Revan turned down more than twenty applicants, offered the job to six, but they were waiting for last three applicants. Most promising ones, whom they were ready to offer really incredible conditions. The first one to come was doctor Simo Steppes. He specialized in droid engineering and was one of the most talented young engineers in the Republic.

"Hello, Dr. Steppes," Revan said extending a hand to be shaken. "I'm Taren Koht and this is Mission Vao. We're glad you could come."

"Good day," he shook Revan's hand and then Mission's. "Your offer was intriguing; however I should remind you I have offers from Industrial Automation and Cybot Galactica as well as other smaller droid manufacturers."

"We know, but we doubt you would receive a freedom anywhere but in Vao-Koht."

"Yes, that is what I was interested in. What exactly do you mean by 'freedom'?"

"Our company won't specialize in mass production. We will develop high-end expensive prototypes and concepts. There won't be many orders, so you would be free to implement your own ideas and use our factory to manufacture. Basically if you don't work on official projects you are allowed to work on your own projects and use available money and staff for it. It's a freedom to create we offer."

"It's very generous offer. What is the catch?"

"There is no catch," Mission answered smiling. "The contract is very simple and transparent. If you accept our offer you wages would be five million credits yearly."

"I need to think it over," Simo answered at last.

"Well, you have a week."

"Thank you," he nodded and took his leave.

The next one was Walex Blissex engineer of starship design. He was offered with similar offer and gladly accepted it. The last engineer was doctor Ma'an Erdex. He was specializing on starship and droid software development and so was perfect addition to the team of Blissex and Steppes. They were lucky that at the end of the week all three engineers accepted the offer and took over as heads of three departments of the Vao-Koht Engineering. Revan already had a project on his mind but wanted to keep it secret from Mission. He was sure she would like the surprise.

At last it was a time to decide for the planet to settle down for a while. He searched for a world for the last week and found a few good planets, but he would at first ask Mission if she found something better.

"Let's go to Alderaan," suggested Mission.

"No, it's too close to the Core."

"Tatooine?"

"Mi, let's be serious," Revan chuckled.

"Okay, okay. I found this planet three days ago. There it is. Naboo. I was lucky enough to look at it. It is located in the Mid Rim, Chommel sector. It's practically perfect for us. There is a hyperwave tranceiver. The world is not vastly populated, only six hundred millions apart from some savage underwater aborigines. No poverty. The nature is nearly untouched. The world is peaceful, beautiful, not overcrowded, distant from the Core and has got a holonet connection."

"Sounds like a paradise, Mission. Is there a catch?"

"No."

"I was going to suggest another planet, but this Naboo seems to be much better choice. What would I do without you?" he smiled.

Two days later they reached Naboo and took a time to look around. They really liked the planet as it was everything they expected and needed. The perfect place to settle down and to be called home. Mission decided to search for good accommodation, and Revan didn't object. She was good at it.

"Is it passable?" she asked.

"What?"

"This villa," she said showing a hologram, "The problem is, it costs twenty six million credits."

"We could buy a planetary system for it. What's so good about it?"

"It's located in the Lake Country. It's extremely beautiful and peaceful there. The villa comes with really great chunk of land. There is another villa nearby but it's far enough, they won't disturb us."

"Good, I like it. Who is our neighbour?"

"The owner is… There is no public access entry, but… Yes, I found it. It's some family. Naberrie…"

* * *

><p>AN:

I'm currently working on next chapters :)

**Jake:** Since you weren't logged in, I'm answering you here. I realized I was rushing too much, and was rewriting the prologue the moment I received your review. It was very helpful though, so thank you. However I will not create more chapters from the prologue, since there is not much I want to write about. As you can see the prologue is three times as big as it was and it's exactly the size I like, so there is no reason to split the chapter.

Naboo. It was a coincidence, or, you could say, the Force urged her to take a look at Naboo. It was a random planet which was beautiful and peaceful (It's likely you want peace after years of war) – exactly what they were looking for.

As for thing I pull outta my arse…. I better avoid it, since it's not hygienical :))).

Revan has no other explanation. He knows only that the Force has something to do with it. He will, of course, research it and I, as an author, know how they did end up there, but it's not really important for the story.

Mission could upgrade the ship, since her upgrades were "on paper" only. She used really rare and/or expensive parts, which they had probably no chance to get. You see the ship was improved over time, but only availed parts were used for these upgrades. Almost no one would install prototype hyperdrive generator or engines for million credits. Mission bought blueprints from Rodian who worked with smugglers; some of them got their hands on these rare parts. They saw no problem to get some money by selling blueprints. But blueprints are useless if you don't have the Star Forge or an own factory to produce parts violating licenses. Well, or money to buy them. However I decided to make her upgraded version of the Ebon Hawk unusable, since it isn't important for the story. Her interest in starship design/upgrade is somehow important.


	2. Chapter 1: The Dark Side

_I'm back, but I still got no time to write :(_

_The chapters will be shorter from now on, since I find it easier to write in small chunks. It seems to be less rushed and overall better written. See it as multiple parts of a single chapter._

_I got help with my English from a certain person. She was kind enough to help me improve, so I hope my language got a bit better. I'm sure though that I still make a lot of mistakes and typos._

_Prologue will be rewritten._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1.<strong>

The Star Forge, an ancient artifact and a creation that could turn even an almost lost war around. Potential to create anything out of nothingness is something every war leader would give away his or her soul. The station lay dormant for many thousand years, but now it was active once again. Once again a ship after a ship was getting out of the Forge and it wasn't its full capability, since the pair who operated it weren't strong enough in the Dark Side of Force.

The two individuals were Mission Vao and Revan. Mission was still learning about the Force and couldn't power the station well enough. Revan on the other side knowing the dangers of the Dark Side couldn't allow himself to fall to the Dark Side again, because it would be disastrous for the Galaxy. He fell once having good intentions, but the Dark Side twisted him and made him believe that everything he was doing, was right.

Revan was watching Mission with worry in his eyes, because he could see the station influencing the young Twi'lek. The Dark Side was strong there and his young padawan still wasn't ready to remain there for prolonged periods of time.

"Come, Mission," he said. "That's it for now, we have to go."

Mission turned around and scowled. "Why?" she asked. "We got here only a week ago."

"Mission, a week is more than enough."

"But Revan..." She turned to the central shaft and pointed with her hand at a new ship that was coming out of the Star Forge. "...Just look at it, it's working much faster now!"

"Of course it is, you're powering it with me," he said.

"That's why we should stay!" she exclaimed. "We already have twenty nine Centurion. If we continue..."

"That doesn't matter, Mission," Revan interrupted her. "We have other things to do. Besides the Dark Side is too strong here, you shouldn't be exposed to it for so long."

"I'm fine," she said with a frown.

"Let me judge that, because you're not."

"You're wrong, Revan, I can handle it," she said not looking at him.

"Getting arrogant, are we?" Revan asked raising an eyebrow. "Don't ever think that you're above the lure of the Dark Side. None of us is. We all have something for Dark Side to offer us. Don't make a mistake, its gifts are just illusions. The Dark Side won't give you what you desire. It will always stay beyond your grasp, forcing you to plunge deeper and deeper into the darkness."

Mission turned around and pointed a finger at his chest. "You talk about dangers of the Dark Side, but you use it."

"I can control myself, Mission. You can not."

The twi'lek huffed and turned away from him again. "If we'll keep interrupting the construction of our fleet, we'll never complete it. You said it yourself, the Republic will need it. We should have a powerful fleet, they shouldn't dare to oppose us, they should fear us."

Revan sighed and shook his head. They stayed there for too long. And the station influenced her far greater than he originally thought.

"Mission, do you hear yourself? You're suggesting that we should maintain the peace through fear. That's something Sith would consider, not Mission I know."

"What? No..." she started to argue as her eyes widened and a fearful expression appeared on her face. "Of Force! I didn't mean to... I... I don't know where all these thoughts keep coming from. You're right, we have to get away from here. It's like I'm losing myself."

"It's alright, Mission," Revan said smiling. "You won't get back here for a few months, so that I can prepare you for the next visit. Let's go to the Hawk."

She nodded and followed him in silence. There was a lot on her mind. Through to be told she was scared that the station was getting so much control over her, making her lose her mind, drawing her closer to the Dark Side. All this without her notice. The station had to be destroyed once the coming threat would be over.

The twi'lek sat down beside Revan in the cockpit of the Ebon Hawk and though over their plans. The fleet was getting strong, but without crew it was just a scrap metal. However, that was their greatest problem, since they couldn't find any way to get people to work for them secretly and legally. There was only one solution, droids, but the ones they were currently using were horrible.

"We need new droids," she said as the ship took off from the station.

Revan nodded saying, "Yes, let's meet our engineers from Tao-Koht."

"I'm sure they're bored to death," the Twi'lek said sending a message to the engineers.

Revan laughed. "No, I hope they're alive, since I gave them something to work on a few months ago. How is your flagship project, by the way?"

"Good. I think we'll be able to start the construction in a few months. Blissex helped me a lot with it," she answered and added, "Don't worry, he doesn't know it's me. I've made him believe that I'm a student of Coruscant University, which I really am by correspondence, and the flagship is my final project, which is, of course, not. He thinks that the project is very interesting and therefore has agreed to oversee it and correct mistakes I do."

"I wonder what his reaction will be once he sees it," Revan muttered.

Mission smirked and noted, "He said that the ship would never be constructed, since no one in the right mind would finance the construction of the monstrosity. Heck, it's six times as big as Centurions."

"Be careful, don't let anything vital slip. We don't want to lose our legal identities," Revan said.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" she asked.

"Mission, control your anger."

Mission grimaced as she realized that she once again gave a way to her emotions and said, "Sorry, the influence of the station is just too strong. The last time wasn't nearly as bad."

"The last time you wasn't as well attuned with the force as you're now," Revan explained.

"Will it get worse?" Mission asked fearfully.

He patted her on her head not touching the lekku and reassured, "No, I'll teach a few tricks to straighten your mental defences. We'll work on your emotion control too." He glanced at her and asked, "Tell me what's on your mind?"

"Our friends," she answered. "Every time we visit the station I can't help but think about them."

"There is nothing wrong about it. I think a lot about past too."

"I know, but... you told me about Sith alchemy, and... It has to be the station, but I keep thinking that there might be a way to resurrect them. I know it's stupid, but these I'm plagued by these thoughts whenever we're on the Star Forge. Besides can't get Taris out of my head. It was just too horrible to see a whole planet destroyed like that. It makes me think that if I were more powerful I could stop it. And the thoughts of power lead me to the Dark Side."

"As I said the Dark Side will grant only illusion of power, misleading you, twisting you, destroying you."

"I know, but I can't think clearly on the station!" she exclaimed.

"We'll work on it, Mission."

Revan knew that his friend was dangerously close to the Dark Side. It helped a lot that she was a very optimistic person. But the Dark Side could seduce everyone and he had to teach her to control her emotions, wield both the Light Side and the Dark Side. He wasn't teaching her like a Jedi would, no, there was a purpose in visiting the station. She had to be feel the influence of the Dark Side to understand it, to be able to control the darkness inside of her.

She was very enthusiastic in learning the ways of the Force and he was happy to teach her. She was a very good student and Revan could see her becoming a Force user on par with him. Of course, she had still much to learn, but the potential and her learning ability were remarkable.

Three days later they emerged from the hyperspace and Revan directed the ship towards the space station. When they docked, they were greeted by the sight of three head engineers, who seemed to be quite agitated and that meant they had something to share with the owners of Vao-Koht Engineerings. For last months their company became popular manufacturer of small yachts, medical and chef droids, not that Revan and Mission were really interested in it.

When they started the company, they hired the best engineers they could find promising them good money and freedom to create. The main purpose of the company was money laundering. Additionally they got an access to excellent engineers that could help them in designing ships and droids they needed. So it was quite understandable that they didn't really care about what the company was selling.

Soon they gathered in a conference room, and Mission wondered if she had to start with the project the engineers wanted to show them or if she should tell them about droid army. She looked at Revan, but he, as always let her decide. Part of the training.

"We have a new project," she said. "A full-fledged droid army. Battle droids, pilot droids, vehicles for droids, starfighters that can be controlled by either droids or humans, dropships. As you see there is something for each of you. The budget is hundred million credits. You're allowed to hire additional staff and buy third-party technologies if needed. Like always, design and schematics only. I've sent all needed information to you."

"May I ask who is our client?" Blissex asked.

"He wishes to stay anonym," Mission answered.

"Is it the Trade Federation?" he continued. "They seem to like utilize droids, but I wouldn't want to work for them."

"No, it's not them. We don't like the Trade Federation either," Mission reassured him.

"That's good. How much time do we have?"

"A year, but we would appreciate if the pilot droids were ready as soon as possible. Any questions?"

"No," one of the researchers answered. "But we have something to show you."

"Is my little project ready?" Revan asked.

"Yes, the prototype is ready for the test-flight," Blissex said. "Please, follow me to the Docking Bay 4."

Steppes and Erdex didn't follow them to the prototype and it was quite understandable, since it was mostly Blissex' work to design the ship. Not that other engineers weren't involved in the project. As Blissex explained they helped a lot in the project by developing the automatization software and a few useful driods.

"What's the prime cost of the prototype?" Mission asked.

"Eh..." Blissex hesitated. "We had to buy some technologies, license some things. It was a very complex project."

Revan rolled his eyes and said, "Relax, we don't really care for money as long as we see where the money goes."

"It's ninety eight million credits," he said.

"By the Force!" Mission exclaimed. "Hundred millions? What kind of personal starship is that?"

"Well, we were a bit enthusiastic," the doctor said. "But I think it's worth the money."

"It's within the limits I applied," Revan noted.

"And I'm grateful that the limits were so high," Blissex said his eyes almost glowing from happiness. "It was a pleasure to work on the project. There is no other ship like this in the whole galaxy."

"I hope I won't be disappointed," Mission said with a frown not happy about wasting so much money.

Revan could very well understand why. The Star Forge was producing things without input of raw materials except the Force, therefore every sale of a ship produced by the station, harmed the global economy. That's why they had set up the limits on how much money they could earn every year, so they were hundred millions short for the year.

"I promise, you won't," the engineer said and explaimed as they entered the Bay 4. "Let me introduce, the Nightblade."

"Wow, the ship is awesome!" squealed the twi'lek looking at the starship from the platform . "It's huge, but has a look of a starfighter."

And she was right, the ship looked exactly like a starfighter. Revan could see why it was called the Nightblade too. The design reminded him of a short blade with wings as guard and a missing grip.

"We wanted it to be nearly as fast and manoeuvrable as a fighter. It's a bit longer than the Dynamic-freighter you use,"Blissex said.

"I believe whenever you say 'a bit', you mean exactly opposite." Revan smiled. "It's three times as big as the Ebon Hawk."

"More than three times actually. These are dual heavy turbolaser cannons on both wings. There are upper and bottom turbolasers and laser battaries. And these are missile launchers. Furthermore, we decided to add a tractor beam. Every weapon can be controlled by gunners, the second or even the first pilot. There are automatic targeting systems developed by the Erdex' team."

"This ship has firepower of an cruiser," said Revan.

"Yet the speed of a fighter," added Blissex. "That's why the Nightblade is so expensive. If not for your supplies, it would be impossible to construct it."

"I'm highly impressed."

"We installed a cloaking device you provide us with. Not sure where you got one, I've never seen one before. The main hyperdrive is class 0.5. The backup one is class 4. Besides, there are the best possible deflector shields, backup shield generator, advanced sensory array, anti-missile systems and tracking disrupters and other support systems."

"Let's take a look inside," suggested Mission, almost running down from the platform to the ship.

"She's rather enthusiastic," Blissex noted.

"She is," Revan agreed.

"But she was different today," the engineer continued. "Is she alright?"

"Yes," Revan answered, surprised that the man noticed Mission's bad mood. "We encountered a few problems, but nothing serious."

The engineer nodded and they followed Mission up the ramp onto the board of the ship.

"It's small cargo hold to the left," explained Blissex.

"Relatively small, the Ebon Hawk hasn't got a bigger one," Mission said.

"Well we decided to make the ship comfortable for the crew and passengers. This is the engineering bay. You can take a closer look later," he said and led the pair to the right. "Passenger and crew dormatories. Nothing much, but I think it's quite good. The medical bay with two bakta tanks. The medical droids were designed by my colloegues two months ago. They're in the mass production now."

"Oh, the VK-Med ST-01?" Mission questioned.

"Yes, the very ST-01," the engineer answered. "Huge success on the galactic market. We already sold more than five thousands of those. But let's continue. To the left is a restroom and sonic shower. To the right - a lounge and a kitchen. The chief droid there is our second successful mass-production droid."

"VK-C1?" Mission asked.

"Yes, they're the only real chief droids in the known galaxy," said Blissex. "Since other manufacturer have nothing that can cook really good meals."

"The lounge is magnificent!" Mission gasped, as they entered it.

"Thank you. The next one is a conference/briefing room," Blissex continued.

"Don't really need one," Mission sighed, "But it's great to have one I think."

"Yes, yes. We weren't sure if you need separate rooms, so we decided on two equal rooms."

"Well, you didn't have to worry," Mission said, "We normally sleep together."

"Oh, we have installed double-beds," the engineer stated.

"Not that way, you perverted scientist!" Mission shouted and blushed glancing at Revan who couldn't help but smile.

"Not my fault, you should've worked better on your word choice," the doctor said smiling while Mission glared at him. "Well, this is a cockpit. These are optional seats for gunners, the first and second pilot seats and three passenger seats. Would you like to take a first flight?"

The test went much better than they hopped. The Nightblade was the best ship Revan ever flew and he flew a lot ships. They were more than satisfied with the ship. It was nothing like the Ebon Hawk and despite their attachment to the copy of their old freighter the pair decided to use the new starship.

"Are all schematics limited to the restricted section only, as agreed?" Revan asked Blissex.

"Yes. There is no information on the ship outside of the restricted section."

"Good, I don't want anyone duplicate the Nightblade. We will come for the ship as soon as possible," Revan said surprising Mission, but she decided to ask later.

Though as soon they were alone on board of the Ebon Hawk, Mission practically attacked him with a question, "Why?"

Revan smiled and answered. "We don't want anyone know that we're using the ship. That's why, we'll steal the Nightblade."


	3. Chapter 2: Neighbours

One more chapter is ready. I'll be happy to read some reviews!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Neighbours.<strong>

"Don't forget," Revan said patting the Twi'lek on her head. "If we have to talk, I'm Revan, you're Arven."

"Force, Revan, I know," Mission said, putting her mask on the face. "We've done it hundred times already."

"But it's a good chance to annoy you. I can't miss that, can I?" He teased.

Mission pouted. "Bloody Sith Lord," she muttered as she sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

"I heard that," Revan said and activated Hyperdrive of YT-1250 they were currently using to reach the Vao-Koht station.

Revan looked at Mission sensing her nervousness. She participated in more difficult situations, but it was the first one since they had been brought to this time. They were breaking into their own space station to steal their own spaceship. They had to be careful with their weapons to not injure anyone. Thankfully they relied mostly on droids to maintain security.

But that probably wasn't the reason she was worried. It was the first time she wielded a real lightsaber. It wasn't her own, but the one Revan gave her.

"You'll be fine," Revan said.

"Of course I will," she agreed grinning.

As soon as they got out of the Hyperspace, Revan cleaned navigation journal just in case and sent a distress signal. They didn't wait for long before they were contacted by the station. The former Sith Lord explained that their ship needed some repairs and requested a permission to dock. As expected it worked and after the permission was granted he directed the ship to the docking bay.

It came as no great surprise to them when their ship was surrounded by a few dozens heavy battle droids. He would be quite concerned about Mission's safety, but the droids were programmed to use underpowered weapons to stun, not to kill.

"Ready?" Revan asked his blue-skinned friend as the ramp went down.

"Yes," she answered and activated her lightsaber.

Before they could be stopped the duo rushed down the ramp and ran to the bay doors using Force to enhance their speed. The two blurs with lightsabers surprised security officers, as they could only gape at the performance, but the droids reacted quite well by opening fire. Revan fell back to deflect the blaster fire allowing Mission to work on opening the door. One by one the droids were going down by the deflected blaster bolts, but he knew that very soon more serious weapons would be used against them.

"Hurry," he said.

"One... second..." Mission muttered and exclaimed, "Done!"

They rushed through the door, sealing it behind them and ran down the corridor towards the Docking Bay 4. Everything went according to the plan. The security systems went down as soon as Mission hacked into them, knowing the security codes. She didn't have to hack at all, but the plan was to leave evidences that the systems were hacked.

The pair didn't stop when they saw a group of droids in the Docking Bay 4, they just ran towards the Nightblade, slicing through the droids with lightsabers. On the way to the ship, Mission opened the ramp and they jumped into the ship. Only a few seconds later the Nightblade left the Docking Bay.

"Our security needs some improvement," Mission noted activating the hyperdrive.

Revan smiled and, taking off the mask, said, "You're unfair to them. They didn't know that they had to defend the place against the owners, who happen to be Force users."

"Still, I'm disappointed. It was too easy."

"Did you erase the blueprints?" he asked.

"Yes. The whole project documentation is in the ship's computer. If our engineers had told us truth, it's the only copy. Let's head to Naboo," Mission suggested.

They didn't want anyone to know about the ship, so Mission activated the cloaking device upon entering the atmosphere. She landed the Nightblade on their private landing pad, hiding the ship underground.

"The mission was fun," Mission said.

Revan laughed. "You're always fun, Mission."

She elbowed him. "I guess I have to give the lightsaber back, right?" She took the lightsaber in her hand.

"Yes," Revan said, taking the lightsaber. "Soon you'll be ready to construct your own one."

"I hope so," Missions said cheerily. "I liked the feeling of wielding the lightsaber."

Revan smiled at her and patted on her head causing her to look at him in annoyance. He could relate to this feeling of hers. He could easily remember the moment he took a real lighsaber in his hand the first time.

"Let's rest," he said. "It has been a long time since we were here."

Mission nodded and followed him home.

It was a warm sunny sommer day and they had decided to meditate outside. Revan was teaching Mission for months and her progress was astonishing. He could feel her strong presence in the Force as she was reaching deep into it. Small rocks began to ascend into the air. Revan knew she was going to be powerful if she would progress at this rate. It amazed him how blind he and Bastila had been. To miss this bright presence in Force was almost impossible. She must have been changed by the Force during the time travel. That was the only explanation.

Two months had passed since their last visit to the Star Forge. Revan was glad to see that the Dark Side had released its hold over her after soon after they had left the station. It had been worrisome, but he knew that his teachings were working and soon she would be able to resist the Dark Side.

His thoughts were interrupted by child's laugh. If was far. Mission heard it it too and stood up quickly, rocks fell to the ground around her. 'Who would intrude onto their land?' he thought. Then he saw them: a man with brown heir holding hands with, probably, his beautiful wife. Behind them two girls were running, playing some game with each other. Revan smiled and nodded, when the unfamiliar man noticed him and led his family to Revan and Mission.

"Good morning," said the man.

"Good morning indeed." Revan said. "However, I must ask you, what you are doing on our land?"

The man's eyes widened. "Your land? Have Clewens sold their villa?"

"Yes, we're the new owners. I'm Taren Koht," the former Sith Lord said and nodded his head towards Mission. "And this is Mission Vao. And who might be you?"

"I'm Rewee Naberrie. This is my wife Jobal and daughters – Sola and Padme."

The Twi'Lek brightened. "Ah, you're our neighbours!" Mission exclaimed.

"It seems, we are," Ruwee answered. "We're sorry for the intrusion. I wasn't aware that the villa had been sold. Previous owners were letting us on their property."

"It's okay," Mission said. "I have nothing against you going for a walk here."

"As long as you don't go to our park on the opposite side of the hill without invitation," Revan added. "We'd like to have our privacy there and be undisturbed."

"Your daughters are cute!" Mission grinned looking at smiling girls. "Are you Sola?"

"No, I'm Padme. Sola is my big sister."

"Sorry." The Twi'Lek smiled. "How old are you?"

"I'm nine and my sister is eleven. What about you?"

"I'm fifteen..."

"Are you her foster father?" Ruwee asked Revan while Mission continued her conversation with children.

"No, I'm not her father." He paused. "We're close friends."

"Close friends?" Jobal asked elevating her eyebrow.

"Nothing like that, she is too young to even consider that," Revan answered a bit annoyed at the silent accusation, but he could understand. Young beautiful Twi'Leks like Mission were often used in very disgusting ways.

"I'm not that young!" Mission exclaimed stopping her conversation with Padme and Sola.

"Right, Mission, you're an old lady," he teased.

"Says the relic of the Old Republic," Mission bit back.

Revan rolled his eyes and said to Jobal, "She was a part of the crew on my ship, but it's a long story."

"I can't wait to hear it," Jobal said. "Would you accept an invitation to the dinner at our villa later this day? We'd like to learn more about our new neighbours."

"I would like that!" Mission said cheerily.

"Seems I don't have a choice." Revan smiled.

"We'll await you at six then," the woman said.

Revan wasn't sure if socializing with their neighbours was a good idea, but he could tell that Mission longed for interaction with other people besides him. She wasn't bothered that they preferred the secluded lifestyle, but she liked to talk and sometimes he just wasn't enough.

Perhaps these neighbours were exactly what she needed. He hadn't noticed it earlier, but apparently Mission loved children. She had been so happy to talk to them. Besides, he could sense that something about the family was important. Nothing obviously urging, but he trusted Force to guide him. And Force was subtly telling him that it was the right decision to befriend the family.

Later that evening they went to the Naberries, walking there by foot. Before entering he stopped for a moment, when he saw the view from the terrace of their home. Mission was just as mesmerised by the nature as him.

"Hello, Taren, Mission." The voice came from the side. It was Jobal. "I'm glad you came."

"Good evening, Jobal," he said. "What a nice view you have here!"

"Thank you," she smiled and led them inside to the dinning room.

Ruwee, Padme and Sola were sitting at a table. Mission and Revan greeted them and took their places at the table.

"So, are you new to Naboo?" Ruwee asked at last.

"Yes," Revan answered. "We've decided to settle down here few months ago."

"Was your decision business-related?"

Revan shook his head. "No, our business located in space on the other side of the Rim. We chose Naboo, because it's peaceful and beautiful here." He looked at Mission. "I have to thank her for comming here. She found this planet searching in the holonet for a suitable planet outside of the Core."

"What would you do without me?" Mission asked slyly. "Ah, I know, you would live on some creepy space station."

"Nonsense," Revan stated smiling.

"I'm glad you like Naboo," Ruwee said smiling at the pair. "Few people prefer worlds on Rims to Core worlds. If it isn't a secret, what type of business you do?"

"We're owners of the Vao-Koht Engineerings. It's mainly droid and starship design and construction."

"Do you mean you both are owners?" Ruwee asked surpised. "Mission is young..."

"I'm young, but it doesn't mean I'm incapable," Mission said being slightly annoyed. "In fact either of us holds fifty percent of shares."

"I didn't mean to offend you, quite the contrary," Ruwee said hurriedly. "We can understand it better than most, since many young people here on Naboo are in the public service. And there are many politicians who didn't even reach the age of fifteen."

She blushed. "That's what I like about Naboo. People here place a greater value on the intellectual maturity rather than the biological."

Revan smiled at her and turned to Ruwee. "And what kind of work do you do?" He asked.

"I'm president of the Refugee Relief Movement."

Revan grimaced and noted, "Not the easiest thing to do with the way the Republic Senate works. It's very difficult to convince the senators to spend some money on those in need."

Ruwee smiled and nodded. "I'm glad you understand."

"May I ask you how you two ended up together?" asked Jobal.

"Well, it's really long story," Mission sighed.

"We have a time," th woman said.

The Twi'Lek exchanged glances with Revan and he nodded allowing her to tell her story. Leaving out a few facts their story wasn't out of place.

"I'm an orphan," Mission began her story. "I lived with my older brother on a distant world. He left however and I was forced to survive alone. That's when I met Big Z."

"Big Z?" Sola asked.

The Twi'Lek glanced at the girl and answered, "A Wookiee outcast. He was a dear friend. We were a good team. We both had a hard time alone, each with own pile problems that would cause us headaches every now and then. But together we could move a moon."

"How young were you?" asked Jobal.

"I was twelve," Mission answered.

Ruwee's eyes widened. "It's difficult to imagine a twelve years old Twi'Lek being friendly with a Wookiee outcast."

"We were an unusual sight," she said with a laugh.

"And where is he now?" Jobal asked.

Mission looked at her plate and Revan sighed closing his eyes. It was still very difficult for her to cope with the thought that Zaalbar was one with Force. "He is... he and the rest of the crew are dead," she said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jobal said worried.

"It's okay," Mission reassured her, trying to sound cheerily. "Anyway, one day I met Taren and we helped each other. He saved Zaalbar, the Wookiee, and I gave him a hand in fighting against a gang to free his friend Bastila who was nearly sold into slavery." Then she frowned and added, "Though Bastila never acknowledged that she needed help."

"No, she didn't," Revan said, rolling his eyes. "But she was grateful even if she didn't want to say that."

"Seems like you both have gone through a lot of adventures," Ruwee said.

"Yes, you're right," Mission agreed. "Do you know about Wookiees and the life debt?"

Ruwee nodded. "I heard about it. They feel indebted to the one who saves them."

"Yes," Mission said. " Zaalbar felt he was indebted to Taren and decided to join him on his adventure. Of course, I tagged along. The Wookiee was the only family I had besides the brother who had left me. Besides, traveling with Taren gave me a chance to find Griff, my brother, and see other worlds with my own eyes. Better than live as a street rat anyway."

"I can't imagine how a wealthy man like you was forced to go through these things." Ruwee told Revan.

"I wasn't always wealthy," Revan answered, preparing a half-truth. "I'm afraid that I can't tell you details, but I was an agent of certain peacekeeping forces and sometimes I was forced into searching the known and unknown regions for ancient artifacts."

"I suppose you found an artifact?" Ruwee asked.

"The employer had no need for it and we decided to use it for ourselves. The artifact is the reason we're wealthy now. The same reason I and Mission are the only members of the crew still alive."

Revan sighed. The conversation was getting too troubling and they needed some distraction to change the subject. It was better to let the ghosts of the past in peace.

"Did you meet your brother, Mission?" Padme asked.

"Yes, but I'm still very angry with him. I've always thought he had been forced to leave but as I learned he had just left me behind."

"How could he just do it?!" the girl exclaimed.

"That's who he is." The Twi'Lek shrugged and hastily changed the subject, "By the way, the meal is wonderful, what is it?"

"Thank you," Jobal smiled, "It's a zoorif, a bird native to Naboo."

"Then I'm fan of zoorifs now," Mission said giggling.

"What was the world where you met?" Ruwee asked.

Again the past was brought into the conversation. "It was Estagon," Revan replied before Mission opened her mouth to say 'Taris'.

"Isn't it the planet, which was destroyed by a comet impact a year ago?" Ruwee asked.

Revan nodded saying, "Yes. We escaped the planet that day, we saw the destruction with our own eyes."

"It's horrible. When I've read the news about it I couldn't believe that something like this could happen. It's still unclear why the planetary defences let the comet through," said Jobal. "Padme visited Shadda-Bi-Boran year and a half ago helping to evacuate it before the worlds' destruction by a supernova."

Mission turned to the young girl and asked, "Were you there with the Refugee Relief Movement?"

Padme nodded and looked down. "Yes. It was painful to see the people leaving their homes behind." Then she looked at the Twi'Lek with determination and continued, "I joined the Apprentice Legislature after the expirence."

"You want to be engaged in politics, don't you?"

"Yes, I want to do something that matters for those in need."

"You're very bright for despite your age. I'm sure you'll do great in politics," the Twi'Lek said and looked at the girl's sister. "Are you fond of politics too, Sola?"

"No," Sola answered shaking her head. "I would rather study engineering in the future."

"Well, everybody ought to do his own things. I like engineering too."

"By the way," Revan said to Rowee, "If you need some financial support for the RRM, we can donate or provide some help."

"I'm most grateful for the offer," the man answered surprised by their generosity. "Let's discuss it later in detail."

Revan nodded. "I would like to do some good with my money."

"Thank you," Ruwee said. "If only there were more people like you."

Soon it was the time to leave, as it was getting late. Before leaving Revan and Mission agreed to come again. In the end it was worth it, Revan decided. Mission looked much better than before despite the fact that she had been reminded of her brother, Zaalbar and Taris.

"Something about the girl was weird," Mission said suddenly when they were entering their own home.

"You sensed it then too," Revan said, surprised that Mission had noticed it.

"Yes, but what could it be?"

"We'll know in time," the former Sith Lord answered. "There is no need to think about it right now."


	4. Chapter 3: Visions of the Future

**Aded a bit more details to the PROLOGUE (On the way from the Star Forge to the Coruscant): **

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><p><em>The second ship was perfect copy of the Ebon Hawk and it worked perfectly. They took off the station and after short stop at Rakata Prime to fill the consumables headed to the Coruscant. The way to Coruscant would take seven days they could use to cope with the fact they wouldn't be able to see their friends ever again. Revan was grateful that he still had Mission, and he was sure that Mission didn't mind to be with him either. <em>

_The main problem was they didn't know much about the galaxy. What had changed in the last thousand years? What was different in this universe? Revan sighed, closed his eyes and began to meditate plunging deeper and deeper into the Force. There was something very disconcerting. Everything was clouded by the Sith alchemy. If not for his knowledge of the Dark Side, he wouldn't be able to get through it. But what was really strange, he knew that it wasn't doing of the true Sith. He didn't sense them in fact. Since he had remembered about them a few days ago, he could sense them, but no more... The alchemy was a result of manipulations of a very small group of Force users. Powerful Sith on par with himself. And if they needed the technique, they were plotting something... dangerous. Revan couldn't let the Sith know about him or Mission, so he concealed both of them from farsight. _

_At last their trip to Core was over; the ship got out of the hyperspace and Mission immediately activated holonet receiver. Revan didn't want to disturb her and directed the Ebon Hawk to Coruscant._

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: Visions of the Future.<strong>

Revan was watching in amusement as Mission was teaching Padme how to shoot a blaster. The Twi'Lek took a liking to the two Naberrie sisters. They both were very intelligent despite their age, especially Padme. Sola's intellectual age was much closer to her actual age. Even though Mission was interested in teaching the older sister about engineering, the Twi'Lek spent much more time with Padme. Much to Mission's dismay, Padme was very busy at the Apprentice Legislature.

Padme's parents surprisingly weren't opposed to Mission's idea to teach her self-defence. Probably, because Revan managed to convince them that some self-defence skills are good for every politician, and after watching Padme growth for the last two years, Revan was sure that she would become an expectational politician. And perhaps he would be able to use it somehow in the future.

They would need people for their fleet and if Padme would trust them, perhaps she would help them. He was in the perfect place to manipulate her. In a good way. On the other hand, he could see that Padme was going to be stubborn and very idealistic. She already was. It would be very difficult to convince a pacifist like her to help them to build army.

Furthermore, it could be too late by then. He could feel that something was brewing out there, something would begin soon. Not too soon, probably years to the future, but by then he had to have a capable fleet at his command. The new droids that Vao-Koht designed for them were good, but nowhere near the pilots and soldiers of flesh and blood.

Still, Padme was his best bet. Considering her talent and intelligence, he only had to push a few buttons to elevate her to some position of power. But, perhaps, he wouldn't even need to do anything. She was doing well herself. Both he and Mission could feel that the girl was important. In the worst case they would have to use droids.

When he saw Jobal, he stood up and greeted the woman.

"How is she doing?"

"Enthusiastic," Revan answered. "Don't worry, she'll be able to defend herself. Mission is very capable."

"I'm glad to hear it," Jobal said watching her daugter shooting a blaster. "Despite everything I wish she had decided to study engineering like Sola. Politics is a dangerous and often thankless job."

"Padme is intelligent, stubborn and has a sense of righteousness," Revan said. "She'll be a good politician."

"That's why I fear for her. Politicians like her tend to have many powerful enemies."

"And allies," Revan added. "Don't worry, Jobal, the Force is with her." Even if they weren't friends, he would make sure to keep her safe. That's what the Force would tell him to do.

Padme's mother smiled. "You sound like a Jedi."

"One doesn't have to be a Jedi to talk about the Force," Revan said with a smile.

Soon it was the time for Padme to go home to Theed and when they left, Revan approached Mission and said, "There is a place I want to take you to."

Mission got confused. "What place are you talking about?"

"A place where you'll find something very important," he answered.

After a brief pause, her eyes widened in realization and she asked, "I'm ready then?"

"Yes, I believe it's the time to construct your own lightsaber, Mission,"Revan said and stood up. "Are you going?"

"Of course!" She exclaimed rushing after him to the Nightblade. "Where will I have to look for the crystals? Ilum?"

"No," Revan answered entering the ship. "We have to avoid meeting with jedi."

"Dantooine then? I heard that jedi abandoned the planet," Mission said.

"Yes, but there is still a chance to meet a jedi there. They're aware of the Crystal Cave and sometimes, very seldom they come there for the same purpose as we do."

They took their places in the cockpit and soon the ship left the atmosphere.

"Do we need masks?" Mission asked when she activated the hyperdrive.

"Yes, we don't need to be seen there."

Mission nodded, but stayed silent. Revan sensed that she felt anxious and patted her softly on the head and reassured her, "There is nothing to worry about."

"I know," she said. "But I waited almost three years for it."

"And you were very patient," he said.

The trip to the Dantooine was uneventful. Both he and Mission meditated almost all the way to the planet. The Sith alchemy that was blocking farsight bothered Revan. He wished he could tear it apart. Maybe doing so would enable him to see who were the Sith, but that would immediately alert Jedi and Sith about Revan's existence. Besides the Sith, whoever they were, were very skillful and were doing it for some time, ti would be almost impossible to do that. He didn't really care for the existence of the Sith, the problem was they were plotting something and he knew that soon he would be able to see the results of their plotting.

They landed the ship at the ruins of the old Jedi Enclave. The time wasn't merciful on it, but despite everything the ancient structure still stood even though the landscape wasn't the same anymore.

"I'm not sure how I feel being here once again," Mission said with a sigh. "But I think I've finally let it go. It doesn't hurt anymore to think about them."

"Good," he said softly. "It's important to be able to let things go."

"Eh... Revan, where is the cave?" Mission asked looking around as they left the starship.

He decided to avoid answering the question. It was a good test for her. "Use the Force, it will guide you."

The Twi'Lek nodded and closed her eyes to concentrate. When she opened them a minute later she began to walk without a hesitation. Revan nodded and followed her, glad that she was able to follow the call of the Force.

Dantooine was a very pleasant place. It was full of life and the Force was strong there. There weren't any settlements on the way, and the wild animals weren't interested in two Force users going through the plains of Dantooine.

He was pleased that Mission was able to find the Crystal Cave. Its entrance was almost buried by rocks, but it couldn't stop them as they used Force to clear the way. Kinrath, large, non-sentient arachnoids, surprisingly, still inhabited this place. He decided to let Twi'Lek handle it and wasn't disappointed. She used the Force to make them invisible for kinrath. It was a difficult feat, but he taught her well.

"This place feels so strange," Mission muttered under her breath as they moved farther into the cave.

"It's a Force Sensitive place," Revan said. "You might have Force visions here, so, be prepared. And may the Force be with you, Mission."

She nodded and continued to walk further into the cave. Revan, however, stopped and sat down in meditation. The Force was very strong with her and he didn't doubt that she would get some visions. It was better to let her go undisturbed. Visions might be very important for her.

Mission was nervous because of potential visions. She touched the hilt she made for her future lightsaber and closed her eyes bringing her emotions under control. When she opened her eyes for a moment she saw Revan's face before her. But he was very young. When he disappeared, she realized that she had seen him young, probably when he had entered this cave to get his own crystal.

And then she stopped, her eyes wide open. Suddenly she saw a vision. It was Taris. The planet's destruction. No! She didn't want to see it again, so many people had died that day. But she already saw another planet, flames devouring it. It was Naboo in flames. Padme's face with a strange make up, she seemed to be older, probably fifteen. Her sad eyes were full of worry. Was Padme sitting in the throne room of Theed Royal Palace? Would Naboo share the same face as Taris?

The vision suddenly stopped and she found herself standing alone surrounded by crystal formations. Mission looked around and listened to the Force to find crystals. Guided by the Force she broke off four crystals and studied them for a moment. They were the ones she needed. She took a deep breath and sat down in deep meditation, slowly going into a trance.

It got suddenly warm and she felt heat on her skin. Mission opened her eyes and found herself in the middle of some desert city. Surroundings were blurry, but she saw a young human boy with blond hair who smiled cheerily at her and ran away.

"Wait," she said following him into some building. Mission stopped in her tracks when she saw Padme inside. Still older, the same age Mission had seen her in a vision. But now her face was free of make up.

"Are you an angel?" the boy asked Padme.

"What?"

"An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They live on the moons of Iego, I think. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe..."

Mission smiled. The boy was cute.

The vision faded and suddenly there was a terrible landscape, rivers of lava, volcanoes and some structures were all she could see before her. She heard someone cry in pain and turned around to see a badly burned man lying on the ground. She took a step back. His eyes were golden and she knew that these eyes were of a Sith that was consumed by hate and anger. Mission noticed a boy from earlier standing next to the man. He was looking at the Sith with sadness. Mission realized that they were the one and the same person. That cute boy would become this Sith?

And then the boy began to morph into a horrible figure of a tall man in black wielding a red lightsaber. He wore a black mask and she could hear his mechanical breathing. Bust what scared her the most, were hate and anger she sensed in him. If was suffocating. He raised his lightsaber and Mission instinctively grabbed her own stopping the red blade with a yellow one.

"I sense your fear," the man said to her, his voice sounded synthesized reminding her of Malak.

"Who are you?" Mission asked, her lightsaber ready to defend.

"I'm the future," he said slashing with his lightsaber.

Mission deflected it with her own, but he sent her with a powerful Force push into the cave's wall. She could barely stand up when the Sith atacked her again.

"I sense the darkness inside of you," he said.

She gritted her teeth and didn't answer. The man was strong, it was like fighting Revan when he was serious. He was just as dangerous. But unlike Revan, who liked to stay extremely fast using Ataru, this monstrosity used Djem So overwhelming her with sheer power and strength. Realizing that she was loosing mostly because she feared the man, she subdued her panic and continued the duel level-headed.

"You're weak, the Light Side is powerless against me," the man said and suddenly he raised her into the air using the Force and began to choke her. It caught her off guard, but recalling Revan's lessons, she reached for the Force and pushed him away from her, breaking his concentration. She immediately capitalized on it and attacked him fueling the fight by anger towards the Sith.

"Yes, join the Dark Side and you'll have power," the man said.

"I use the Dark Side, but it has no control over me, Sith," she hissed. "I'm not controlled by the anger and hate. I won't join the Dark Side."

With that she began to press him and finally found an opening piercing him through the chest. The vision began to dissipate, but she still held her lightsaber in her hand. How long had she been in the trance? The lighsaber was completed and it was beautiful. The weapon felt so right in her hand. She sighed recalling her visions. She had to share them with Revan. Mission turned around and went back to Revan.

She found him sitting deep in meditation on the ground. "Revan?" she said.

He opened his eyes and looked at the lightsaber in her hand. "Yellow? Must be Bastila's influence."

Mission pouted. "The crystals felt right," she muttered.

"Of course," he said with a nod. "I'm proud of you, Mission. Let's go back to the ship."

"I saw a vision," she said as they was walking to the exit of the cave.

"I know," he answered. "It's not unusual."

"Yes, but I think I saw a future," she said. "I saw Padme in the throne room of Royal Palace, burning forests of Naboo. She was at least two or three years older. Then there was a boy, perhaps ten years old. He spoke with her. I'm not sure how is that important, perhaps they'll be friends or more. After that the boy became a monstrous Sith that fought me. If he weren't just a vision, I'm certain that I'd be defeated easily."

Revan nodded. "It's not uncommon either. We know that Padme is talented. It wouldn't surprise me if she'd become a Queen."

"Me neither," the Twi'Lek admitted.

"We're aware that something is coming. Perhaps these fires will be a part of it."

"Yes, but what if someone invades Naboo?" she asked.

"We will be there to help."

"I hope we will," Mission said with a sigh. "Naboo is a beautiful world, I wouldn't want it to be destroyed like Taris."

"The Sith are hiding," Revan continued. "Most likely, the boy may become a Sith. The Force wouldn't show him to you as a child, however, if there wouldn't be any chance to prevent it."

"What you tell me feels right," Mission said. "That means it's important to prevent the boy falling to the Dark Side, right?"

"Perhaps, Mission. We will know in time. Concentrate on here and now. I feel that the time hasn't come yet. Worries about future cloud your mind."

"But..."

"Listen to the Force, Mission," he interrupted her. "Does it urge you to act on the matter?"

She closed her eyes and cleared her mind. "No," she answered at last.

"Good. Describe the Sith you fought," Revan asked her.

"He was tall and wore some sort of black suit. I think it was a life-support suit. I heard his mechanical breathing and his voice was synthesized, like Malak's. His face was hidden by a black mask. I sensed his anger and hate. He wasn't like Malak. I'm not sure I can compare them, because I couldn't use the Force back then. But I've got an impression that this Sith had nothing left in him besides hate and anger at himself and the world around him. It was suffocating. A bright contrast to the cheerful boy he had been before morphing into the monster. His fighting style was unlike yours. He was successfully using Djem So against me."

"Hm... interesting," Revan whispered as they left the cave.

"He was trying to seduce me to the Dark Side sensing that I was using it, but I kept my emotion under control."

"You should be careful with the Dark Side," Revan reminded her. "Don't use it unless you're with me and it's necessary."

Mission nodded. "I know. But I think it was necessary. I feel like it was a test and I passed it."

"Of course you did," Revan said. "Otherwise you wouldn't have the lightsaber in your hand."

"I don't remember constructing it at all," Mission told him. "I went into the trance and then saw the vision. Once I defeated the Sith in the vision, I found myself standing there with the lightsaber in my hand."

"Don't worry about it. I had the same experience the first time," he reassured her and followed Mission into the ship.

"Do you want to visit the Coruscant?" Mission asked. "I want to go shopping."

"If it takes eight hours like the last time..."

"Don't worry, Revan," Mission interrupted him happily. "It won't take that long... maybe... unlikely... no, impossible."

Revan sighed.


	5. Chapter 4: Darkness

_Well, another chapter is done :) Please, review! :)_

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Darkness<strong>

Revan knew that something was very wrong, but the Sith were doing the good job hiding themselves. He realized that he wasn't the only one who sensed the importance of Padme. Of course she had a prodigious talent, but her elevation to power was still way too fast. Everything was too convenient to be a coincidence. Veruna's death only convinced him that someone was putting the girl in position of power. And the Dark Side was involved for sure.

However, they played right into his hands by doing so. It was obvious that they wanted to manipulate her somehow, but the Sith had no idea that there was another player that had lots of the young Queen's trust. Padme's position was perfect for Revan's plans. However, the girl had proven to be very stubborn and hard to manipulate and he still had to wait for the right moment. And if he wasn't mistaken, the time had almost come.

"Revan, you have to see this," Mission said interrupting his meditation.

She activated holoprojector and he saw the planet being surrounded by a fleet. He knew that the ships were commonly used by the Trace Federation. That was a very bold move. The Trade Federation neither had the right nor the strength to act like this. Therefore they had a serious backing in the Senate to avoid consequences should something go wrong.

And now he saw a reason behind Padme's elevation to power. The Sith hoped to manipulate the young and naive Queen during this conflict, but to what gain? Naboo wasn't a very important planet in the Galaxy. Rich of plasma, but there are dozens of other planets equally rich of it and less problematic for the Trade Federation to gain control of. Still, surprisingly, every action that benefited the Sith, benefited Revan as well. It was exactly the chance, Revan was waiting for.

"What should we do?" Mission asked in a very worried voice. "It's like in the vision back in the cave. I don't..."

"Mission, calm down," Revan said. "The Trade Federation won't bombard the planet, they're not Sith. An invasion and a small armed conflict are possible though, because I believe the Sith caused the blockade. Possibly, that's what you've seen."

"I've tried to contact Padme," Mission said in dismay, "But you know the security protocols, she's practically cut from the outside until the crisis is over."

"We have no legal right to address the Queen right now," Revan said thoughtfully. "And even if we infiltrate the Palace, we still won't be able to resolve anything."

"We can just take them out," Mission suggested.

"The Trade Federation?" he asked raising an eyebrow. Mission nodded and he said, "Maybe, but the fleet is rather large and even guided by the Force we'll most likely fail to get on their Flagship and force them to leave. I don't want to explain Padme why we caused a war with the Trade Federation. Use of our fleet is not an option either. It has to be hiden. Besides, that would be counterproductive. I need the blockade."

"What?" Mission exclaimed.

"Mission, calm down," Revan said calmly. "We need people for our fleet, that means we have to make it legal. That's the perfect opportunity to do it."

"I don't like it," Mission muttered. "You want to use Padme."

"Not really," Revan answered. "We use the circumstances, as for Padme, we're helping her. At fault are the Sith. They caused this conflict, they want to use her to reach their goals. We'll be involved anyway."

Mission sighed. "Then, what do we do?"

"Tell me what should we do?" Revan asked instead. "You know Padme well enough to know how she will act. Tell me what will happen?"

The Twi'lek eyed him with a frown and answered, "Padme loves Naboo and will do anything for her people, she's incorruptible, stubborn and idealistic. She'll try to avoid an armed conflict with the Trade Federation through negotiations, but I doubt she'll agree to anything they have to offer. However the blockade doesn't make any sense, because the Senate will act sooner or later. They must have a strong lobby in the Senate. And if the Sith are involved, may I assume that the Sith are in the Senate?"

Revan smiled. "Very good, Mission and probably you're right. They are in the Senate or they have control over a large group of Senators who will do anything they ask," he said and sighed. "I've no idea why Naboo is important though."

"Maybe the Sith aren't involved..."

"No, they are," Revan interrupted her hurriedly. "Listen to the Force, Mission. What do you feel?"

She sighed and sat down in meditation. "The Dark Side," she said finaly. "I can't see anything, it clouds everything..."

"Yes... But, sometimes to see in the dark we should put out the light," Revan whispered.

'_To put out the light to see in the dark?_' she thought and then realized what he meant. She called for emotions, anger at the Trade Federation and the Sith, fear for Naboo, Padme and Republic, fired her passion for saving the planet and the Queen, for get revenge and destroy the Sith, gaining strength and power from the Dark Side to get through the veil that was keeping her blind. She fought with all her might, like a bird that flew through a terrific storm to reach a clear sky and suddenly the veil was finally behind, got through it, she won.

Feeling free of chains, Mission opened her eyes and saw two men, their faces hidden, the light too bright to see, but darkness swirled in their eyes. They were looking at her... no, through her at the planet behind her. Naboo. Then they felt a disturbance, her presence and began to turn their eyes upon her. But there, behind the Sith's Alchemy, the light was bright and the only thing they saw, were her eyes and inside - the fight of light and darkness.

Suddenly she was pulled out of the trance, back into the darkness, blindness. She hissed in anger, but her rage quickly faded as Revan calmed her down using the Force.

"That was very stupid, Mission," Revan said to her when she opened her eyes. "Though it's my mistake. I didn't think that you would be able to break through their Alchemy. I'm impressed."

"I saw them!" she exclaimed.

"And they almost saw you," Revan noted calmly.

She froze. "Do they know who I am?"

"No, they sensed our presence, but they don't know who we are and where we are."

"Is that bad?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, it's alright."

The Twi'lek sighed. "But you were right, they're behind it. That's clear to me now. If the Sith are involved then they either want to gain something through the blockade or through invasion. But just like you have said, someone quickened Padme's elevation to power, someone needed her, Padme is the key. We should hide her."

"Good analysis," Revan said with a brief nod. "We should get to the Theed and be ready to get Padme on board of the Nightblade. I fear you might have forced their hands to act more quickly. But it's very unlikely."

Mission liked Theed, it was peaceful and beautiful, something her homeworld lacked, though the Upper City looked great enough, it was nothing like the capital city of Naboo. Revan and Mission rented an apartment right before the Royal Palace, so that they would be able to get to the Queen quickly enough.

It's been a week since the begin of the blockade. Right now they were listening to the conversation between Padme, her Council and Senator Palpatine. On their arrival to Theed the pair infiltrated the Royal Palace and bugged the Throne room. The Queen's conversation with the Trade Federation alerted them that it was almost the time. That's why they weren't surprised when the conversation with the senator was cut.

"It's time," Revan said and stood up, putting on his mask.

Mission sighed and followed him, her face hidden as well. They didn't even consider going through the gates, the guards wouldn't let them in. Instead they used the Force to jump very high to the window. Of course it was secured, but Mission was very good at hacking and slipping through security devices. Once inside they headed to Padme, letting the Force guide them.

Soon they reached Padme's location. She was in a room that was guarded by four men. Behind the door Revan sensed two people besides Padme. Trying to get there unnoticed was out of question, so they had to do it by force. He glanced at Mission and she nodded. Then he used the Force to put two guards to sleep, while Mission did the same to the rest. Once the guards lay down asleep, they rushed through the door.

Revan had to admit that Padme's head of the Security Forces, Captain Panaka was good. He didn't know the man personally, but everything he learnt about him was, obviously true, as the security officer fired at Revan the moment he opened the door. Unfortunately for Panaka, he had to face Revan. The former Sith Lord blocked the blaster bolts with his bare hand and then pushed the security officer to the wall knocking him out. Mission in the meantime put to sleep a girl that was with Padme behind a paravent.

Revan looked at Padme, who jumped from behind the paravent with a blaster in her hand, and for the first time in years felt embarrassment, because they interrupted the Queen while she was changing her clothes. Padme, obviously didn't care whether she had something on her or not. Sure, Revan appreciated the beauty of a female body, but he never wanted to see _her_ like this. He had watched her grow and she was almost like a daughter to him. He wished he could turn away, but even having the Force to help, it wasn't a good idea to turn one's back to the blaster. And Padme would shoot without hesitation, he and Mission trained her well.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded.

"Don't worry, Padme, we aren't here to harm you," the Twi'lek said.

Padme's hand trembled and she asked, "Mission?" Then she looked at the man before her. "Taren?"

"Yes," Mission answered.

"But... why?" the young Queen asked and they felt pain of betrayal in her voice. "Are you with the Trade Federation? Are you here to assassinate me?"

"Whoa, Padme," Mission said. "We're friends, aren't we? Why would we want to assassinate you? We came to help."

"By knocking out my handmaiden and the head of my security?" Padme asked, the blaster still pointed at Revan.

"It was the only way in," Mission explained. "Listen, Padme, we want to help and we can help. You know me for years and you know that you're like a little sister to me. I would never harm you."

Padme sighed and lowered her weapon. "I need an explanation," she said.

"Of course," Mission agreed. "But would you mind to cover yourself first? Taren is quite disturbed by the sight."

Padme's face reddened and she jumped back behind the paravent. "Oh, Force!" she exclaimed. "I'll die from embarrassment!"

Mission laughed and said, "There are more important things to worry about."

"What did you do to Rabeé? And how?"

"Oh, I put her to sleep using the Force," Mission answered. "I'm sorry we kept it from you, but we're Force users."

"I see," the Queen said. "Can you wake her up?"

"We'll do it, but before that I have to ask you to refer to me as Revan and Mission as Arven, please," Revan said. "We'd like to keep our identities secret."

"Of course," Padme said.

Surprisingly, the handmaiden didn't need a lot of convincing that everything was alright. She just did what the Queen told her. When Padme and her handmaiden walked from behind the paravent, they wore the same red-orange dress with a hood.

"Now, explain," Padme demanded.

"I'm sorry that we came like this, but it was the only way," Revan said. "We know that the Trade Federation began the invasion. We'd like to offer a ship to get away from the planet. It's one of the fastest in the galaxy and it's equipped with a cloaking device. We'll slip through the blockade effortless."

"I won't leave my people," Padme said.

"Then the Trade Federation will win," he said. "If you come with us, you'll be able to address the matter directly to the Senate, by staying here you'll allow them to force you to sign anything they want by keeping the people as hostages. Then they might kill you to destroy the fragile political balance in the Senate. We believe there are greater forces than the Trade Federation behind it. You have to admit that the Trade Federation acts too bold."

"You've got the point," the Queen admitted. "Do you really think they'll kill me?"

"Yes." Revan nodded. "There is nothing so important for the Trade Federation on Naboo to take such risks. An assassination of the ruling monarch will cause lots of changes in the Senate."

"We need to wake up the guards," Mission suggested, "Otherwise we'll cause panic once someone discovers them."

"Explaining everything to Captain Panaka won't be easy," Padme said. "But there is no other choice."

Revan nodded and used the Force to wake up the man. It came to no surprise that explaining to the head of the security force was much more difficult. The only reason he didn't try to use violence, was the Queen, who forbade it.

"Your Majesty, you can't trust these scoundrels," he said once they finished the explanation leaving out their true identities and woke up the guards behind the door.

"That's for me to decide, Captain Panaka," she said sternly and turned to Revan. "Your ship, is it really able to get through the blockade?"

"Yes, easily," he answered. "It has a cloaking device, very advanced shields and the fastest available hyperdrive."

"Cloaking device?" the security officer said. "They're as good as non-existent."

"They have one," the Queen said. Mission had demonstrated her her personal cloaking device a year ago. "I've seen is with my own eyes."

"Even so, using the royal starship without _them_ on board is more advisable," Panaka said glaring at Revan.

"Her Majesty would be much safer on board of our ship," Revan said calmly. "However if the Queen chooses to use her own ship, we'll make sure that she gets through the blockade," Revan said calmly. "We only care for her safety, you have to worry about the Trade Federation, Captain Panaka."

For a few minutes the Queen remained silent. "I'll trust them in getting me to Coruscant," Padme said at last.

"Your Majesty..." Panaka tried to argue.

"It's my final decision," Padme interrupted him. "I'll take only Rabé with me. Revan and Arven are obviously more than enough to protect me if they're able to easily take out my guards. Sabe, as planned, will take my place to stall some time for us to get help from the Republic. Even a few hours can make difference. The Trade Federation won't care about a single ship if they think I'm still here. If Sabe has a chance to escape after they come for her, she should use it. I don't want her to get killed. And Captain, please take care of my people."

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said and turned his head towards Revan. "If something happens to the Queen..."

"She'll be safe," Revan assured him. "We have to go, Your Majesty."

Padme nodded and followed him out of the room. Captain paused at the door as the group parted looking at the queen and then led the guards away, while Revan and Mission led the Queen and her handmaiden to the speeder. Fortunately they didn't meet any obstacles on the way.

"Where is the ship?" Padme asked as they sped up away from the city.

"We're almost there," Mission answered.

Padme sighed loudly. "You stayed on Naboo just because of me, didn't you?"

"Of course," the Twi'Lek said with a smile. "We wouldn't leave you and our home just because the Trade Federation blockaded the planet."

"Do you think the Senate will help?" Padme questioned.

"Perhaps," Revan said. "But we have another solution"

"What solution?" Padme asked as they stopped besides the Nightblade.

"We'll tell you once we're in the safety of hyperspace," he said and headed to the ship.

"Who constructed the ship?" the Queen asked looked at the starship in awe.

"You know the answer, Your Majesty," Mission said following Revan on board.

"Arven," Padme said, "You don't have to be formal with me around Rabé, she's trustworthy."

Mission nodded. "Very well, Padme," she said with a smile eyeing the handmaiden that kept herself silent until now.

They didn't waste any time. As soon they got to the cockpit, Revan started the ship and activated the cloaking device to hide them from the Trade Federation. As predicted the blockade ships didn't notice the Nightblade and they successfully jumped to hyperspace.

"Now, let us talk," Revan said turning around. "I believe you deserve to know the truth about us."


	6. Chapter 5: Revelations

_I'm back with another chapter. I hope you'll like it. Reviews are always appreciated._

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: Revelations<strong>

Padme had still no idea what to think of her friends and mentors. If they were someone else, she wouldn't even consider trusting them, but it was Mission, the Twi'lek, who taught her to use various weapons and stealth. The one, who Padme considered the best friend. And Taren who taught her hand-to-hand combat and so much about politics. Despite that Apprentice Legislature was a good way to learn, he had so much practical knowledge, that without him she would be only half the politician she was. If she had some troubling question, she always would ask him and the man always had an answer. Except her family, they were two whom she trusted the most.

However, she had always thought that they were hiding something. Their actions today proved that she wasn't mistaken. Now she would learn what they were hiding. Despite Padme's words about Rabé's trustworthiness, Taren still asked the handmaiden to stay in the lounge while they would talk in the conference room. Padme didn't mind that, it was their secret after all.

"Some tea?" Taren asked her, taking off his mas, as they sat at the table. Padme nodded and, filling two cups with water, he asked, "Karlini or sapir?"

"Karlini, please."

Like always, Teren chose sapir tea, while Mission poured herself a cup of a blue milk. She was used to it after all the time she spent with them. Padme took a small sip of tea and nodded. Just like she liked it.

"Do you remember I told you about the Mandalorian Wars and the Sith Empire?" Taren

"Yes," she said. That was one of a few thing that had bothered her. "I still don't understand how do you know about the events more than can be found in the archives. But what does it have to do with you?"

"Everything," he answered. "What was the name of the Dark Lord of the Sith, the founder and leader of the Sith Empire."

"Darth Re..." Padme paused, when realization hit her. "Revan. Your pseudonym."

"I _am_ the Revan," he said.

Padme's eyes widened. It would explain why he knew so much about the long gone past, but it was too out of world.

"That's impossible," she said.

"It is not," Mission argued. "You know about hyperdrive malfunctions that can lead to such consequences."

"True, but... " She sighed. It was too unbelievable, how could he be the Revan? "The situation is too dire to joke like this."

"But this isn't a joke," Taren said calmly and activated a holoprojector in the middle of the table, selecting a few images and a video. "Mission took these during our journey."

The Twi'lek giggled. "Canderous looks murderous."

"Well, you practically forced him to stay still and let you take a picture of him," Taren noted with a smile.

Padme studied the holos in silence. She couldn't believe that it was truth. He was the Revan. The one who fougth in the Mandalorian Wars, the one who led the Republic to the victory, the one who fell to the Dark Side and founded Sith Empire then returned back to the Light and once again led the Republic to the victory. Taren had told her so much about the man, and now she learned that he was the man. And Mission... she was one of the heroes of that time. Padme couldn't help but feel hurt that they hadn't told her the truth about themselves.

"Then... then it's true, you really are the Revan," the Queen said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We didn't want anyone to know, Padme," Mission explained. "Everything I told you about my childhood is true, I only changed the name of the planet. It was Taris. I had to fight for my life since I was little. Revan's life, as you're aware, wasn't any less violent. When we realized that we traveled four thousand years to the future, without any friends here or other connections, we decided to live in peace at least for some years. Away from politics and violence."

Padme couldn't argue that she would probably want to do the same. Padme shuddered. She didn't want to be in their place. Even a thought about losing everything was horrifying. She had now so many questions, but it wasn't the right time to ask.

"Back then, when we were in the speeder, you said that there is another solution to the crisis. What did you meant?" she asked. "And why do you think it's better than to ask the Senate for help?"

"You can learn much from history. Let me remind you about the Mandalorian Wars. Back in my days the Senate was much more capable and less corrupt because any big war tends to push incapable people out of their positions. The Republic was still recovering from the Sith War, however it doesn't meant the Senate was any different. The Senate lacks the ability to act quickly. The differences between the senators make it impossible for the Senate to make important decisions in time. It's the bane of the democracy. Democracy has lots of advantages, it has many disadvantages as well. Corruption turns the governmental body completely useless."

"Dictatorship is much worse," Padme said with a smile. It was one of those subjects they both liked to discuss. "Absolute power corrupts even the best leaders and doesn't solve problems of corruption. I wouldn't want to live in the world where everything would depend on a whim of a single ruler."

"Nothing is perfect, and I don't claim the opposite," he said with a smile. "But let me get back to the topic of the Mandalorian Wars. What did the Republic do when Mandalorians attacked the worlds on the edge of Republic Space? Nothing, they discussed the situation on countless sessions in the Senate, allowing billions to die, just because they didn't want to destabilize the economy and let the money flow to the military instead of their bank accounts. Back then, the Jedi Order had much more influence than these days, but once the war started, what did the Jedi Order do? Out of their insecurities and fear they did nothing, they meditated and talked, allowing billions to die. The Force was crying for help, but the High Council decided to not intervene."

He paused for a moment and then continued, "Now, do you see the similarities? The Trade Federation has a very strong lobby in the Senate, and many senators are getting their pockets filled with Federation's money. What do you think the Senate will do once you ask for help? Will the Senators go directly against those who pay them? It's your word against theirs and it will be very easy to dismiss your words, considering the amounts of money the Trade Federation is ready to spend."

Padme frowned. "I know that you are much more experienced than me. However, I can hardly believe that the Senate won't help."

"Unless you give the senators a good reason, an excuse to go against the Trade Federation, the Senate won't do anything. The most of them worry only about their worlds, their families and their bank accounts. Mostly the later. No-one will be really interested in the fate of Naboo. The only senators that may offer you some support are those from worlds that suffer from the growing influence of the Trade Federation. And even these senators may hesitate in fear of placing their worlds in the same situation as Naboo right now."

Padme paled at his description of the Senate. She hadn't thought about it this way, but knew that it was truth. In the desperation she hoped that the Senate would listen to her, but when she thought about it rationally, it was clear that she was on her own. But was she? There had to be some senators who would provide some help.

"Supreme Chancellor is our ally," she argued in a weak voice.

"Perhaps, but does he have enough power to convince the Senate? If my information is correct, he doesn't have much power over the Senate. The discussions will last forever, they will send people to find some evidences for your accusations, but just like the Chancellor's Jedi ambassadors they'll either vanish and if asked, Federation will be able to claim that the ambassadors were attacked by pirates. Either that, or the ambassadors will return with no evidences, but money from the Federation."

"You know about the ambassadors?" the Queen asked in surprise.

Mission blushed and said in an embarrassed voice, "I may have bugged your Throne room."

Padme had urge to roll her eyes. "You know that if you weren't my friends, it would result in a life sentence?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, but we had to know what was happening," the Twi'lek said.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Padme said and asked Revan, "What do you think, are the people of Naboo in danger?"

Revan shook his head. "I doubt that the Trade Federation will actively kill anyone, it would make much more difficult for them to exlain everything to the Senate. However, that's not the main problem. If we lose time, the Trade Federation will use it to hire assassins or force people to choose a new marionete monarch, who would do what they want. Their target may be you, but if they can't get you, they'll make sure to not leave empty-handed. The consequences would be disastrous for Naboo."

"What do you propose then?"

Revan didn't answer, instead he brought the information some data on the holo-screen. Af first she didn't understand what she was looking at. It was a list. Vigilant-class dreadnaught, 5 Collossus-class dreadnaughts, 877 Centurion II-class battlecruisers,67 Centurion-class battlecruisers, 2891 Interdictor II-class cruisers... This was a fleet. She used the control panel before her to get details on the ships and her eyes widened at the magnitude of it. Fully controlled by droids and ready to be used. The fleet was the solution? That meant they had the fleet at their command.

"I don't understand," she said, trying to stay calm. "I can't claim that I know much about starships, but it's a huge fleet. I know that you two own Vao-Koht Engineerings, but it's too much. No organization would be able to build such fleet."

"It's our fleet, Padme," Revan answered. "The how is not something I can answer, because the knowledge is too dangerous."

"Why do you need one?" she asked in desperation. "Did you plan to wage a war against the Republic, just like..."

"Whoa," Mission stopped her, "Don't make such assumptions, please."

"But one doesn't build such fleet without a reason, Mission," Padme said coldly. "It can easily fight the Republic."

"It can't," Revan said. "We don't have people. A starships without a crew is just a scrap metal. But even if we had people, it wouldn't be used against the Republic."

Before Revan could continue, Mission said, "You know that Force-users can predict future to some extent..."

Future? No, it was just too much. First their identities, now it was the fleet.

"That's it," Padme interrupted Mission and stood up. "I don't believe you. You lied to me all the time about your true identities, and now you're trying to convince me that you built this monstrous fleet just because you see the future?"

"Padme, please, take a look at the line of command," Revan said calmly as he changed the output to the screen. "The droids are controlling the ships."

"It doesn't matter what..." She stopped in her tracks, as her eyes caught the names in the list. There were only three names, and the first in list was hers. "I... am the Commander-in-chief?" she whispered sitting down again.

Revan smiled at the stunned expression on her face. "You can override every order to the droids. Therefore we can't really go against the Republic unless you don't want to do it."

"I can destroy the fleet with just a single command... You gave me the fleet just to gain my trust," she said stunned by the tremendous amount of trust she was given by the two. "But why do you think you can trust me with this power? How do you know that I won't use it for a wrong reason?"

"I know you well enough to be sure of that," Revan said.

"Power corrupts," she noted.

"Not you, Padme."

A blush appeared on her face, but she quickly recovered and said, "You propose to announce the creation of the Naboo Navy in response to the actions of the Trade Federation. I have the legal right, but I don't want to do it, Taren... Revan. We're a peaceful world, always have been. I was elected after I had promised to find a peaceful solution to the conflict with the Trade Federation. Even if it might be a solution, I just can't do it."

"By doing so you wouldn't go back on your word. After the invasion, it doesn't matter anymore. You have to free your world and no-one would criticize you for creation of a fleet to liberate and protect Naboo."

Padme shook her head. "People would ask how I accomplished the feat."

"And you would answer, that you hired me and I gave you the fleet. No further explanation would be needed. I'll take all the hits for you," Revan answered.

"I appreciate it, but I want to see the reaction of the Senate with my own eyes." She took a deep breath. "If they won't help, then I'll think about your proposition."

"I understand," he said. "However, please keep our conversation secret and don't forget that we're Revan and Arven as long as we wear the masks."

"Won't Jedi recognize your name?" she asked suddenly.

"They might, but it doesn't matter," he answered. "Even if they would come to conclusion that I am the Revan, nothing would change. I'm not a part of the Jedi Order and they don't have any evidences that I've ever did anything wrong under this 'guise'. My actions after the Mandalorian Wars were pardoned."

"Did you do anything wrong?" the Queen asked.

"Not really," he answered allowing a smile to creep over his face. "We may have infiltrated the Judicial Arcology to access the Archives."

"You did... what?" Padme exclaimed. "And I thought that you couldn't do any worse than infiltrating and bugging my Palace."

"They have no evidences," Mission noted. "No-one saw anything and there is no recording of it."

"That doesn't change the fact that you did it." Padme breathed out a helpless sigh and said, "Tell me that you did it for a good reason at least."

"It was necessary," Revan said. "That aside, we sold some starships restricted for the Judicial Forces use only, but in the Hutt Space, therefore it can't be considered a crime. Just a business."

"Is that all?" the Queen asked hopefully.

"Nope," Mission said grinning. "We stole this ship from Vao-Koht Engineerings."

Padme blinked and looked at Revan in confusion and then back at Mission. "Why would you steal from yourself?"

"Ah, to allow us to use this ship as Revan and Arven," the Twi'lek answered. "We didn't wish to prefer charges."

Padme snorted and said, "I'd be very surprised if you would."

"Except the obvious attention, a disclosure of my identity won't result in any disadvantages. If you choose to use the fleet we'll get the attention anyway."

Padme turned her attention back to the information about the fleet and after studying it for a minute said, "Isn't a use of droids dangerous?"

"That's our main problem," Revan answered. "We're forced to mind-wipe them every now and then. They can't gain experience and therefore are quite ineffective. That's why it's a scrap metal right now, but more than enough to deal with the Trade Federation."

Padme nodded, going through the list of the ships. "The Vigilant-class dreadnaught is huge."

"I designed it," Mission said proudly.

"You?" Padme asked in surprise. "Oh, I completely forgot that you've got a degree in starship engineering."

"On my way to gaining a doctor title, by the way," the Twi'lek said.

"Mission, stop boasting, otherwise the room might get too small for the three of us," Revan teased.

"Ah, you're the one to talk," Missions said grinning and asked Padme, "How many times he told you the story about his glorious victory in the underground swoop race?"

"The one where he freed a friend?" Padme asked failing to suppress a laugh. "Eight times at least."

The Twi'lek nodded. "Exactly. It was Bastila Shan, by the way."

"Really?" Padme asked raising an eyebrow. "How did she manage to get herself nearly enslaved? Wasn't she one of the most powerful Jedi in the history?"

Revan muttered something inaudible and answered, "She was one of the most talented Jedi I've ever seen. I didn't get a chance to see her at her prime. When we journeyed together, she was still young and immature."

Padme frowned. This didn't fit with the information she had got from the Archives after she had become a Queen. And when she thought about it, there were much more weird things that she had missed at first. She believed him that he was the Revan, but still it didn't make any sense.

"I don't understand how is this possible," she said. "Archives, I was able to access as a Queen, say that you were married to Bastila Shan..."

"Oh, not this nonsense again," Revan groaned causing Mission to burst into laughter.


	7. Chapter 6: Coruscant

_What's with everyone's obsession with the HK-47?__ :)_

_Thank you everyone for reviews! You make me want to write more! :)_

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: Coruscant.<strong>

Senator Palpatine was waiting for the Queen in his office and the man seemed to be quite surprised to see her escorted by Revan and Mission.

"I have to admit that I was very surprised when I found out that you are on Coruscant, Your Majesty, it pleases me greatly, however, to see you well," the senator said, greeting the Queen.

"The Trade Federation launched an invasion," Padme said taking a place offered by Palpatine. "I was forced to flee and leave Naboo, not without help of members of the newly formed Knights of Naboo."

"Knights of Naboo, Your Majesty?" Palpatine asked, his eyebrows flew up in surprise. "I wasn't aware of their... existence."

"As I said, it's a newly formed organization," the queen said, her face betrayed absolutely no emotion as she glanced at Revan.

Revan was glad that he had his mask on. He had no idea how the Queen was able to say it keeping the stoic expression on her face. She would make a great Jedi had she been Force-sensitive. Revan was glad that Mission managed to stay calm too. They didn't discuss it. He simply assumed that Padme would introduce him and Mission as mercenaries or bodyguards. Either would do. But no, the girl had to go and create another Jedi Order all by herself. Still, he decided to play along.

"I'm Knight Revan," he said calmly and nodded towards the Twi'lek, "And this is Knight Arven."

Revan didn't miss a brief start that the senator gave upon hearing his name. He narrowed his eyes. The way Senator Palpatine was eyeing his mask and and the senator's reaction clearly indicated that he was aware who Revan was. And this was anything but a common knowledge these times. Only historians, Jedi and Sith would know about him. And the few who studied it for one reason or another. For there was little information about Revan in public Archives.

The senator wasn't a Jedi and he wasn't a historian, but a politician. As such he could be interested in the events of those times. But even having almost no access to the Force because of the Force concealment he was useing to hide himself and Mission, he still could sense that there was more. There was taint of the Dark Side in the room, a very subtle one, but being a Dark Side user himself, he couldn't miss it.

"I don't know how to express my gratitude for bringing Her Majesty to Coruscant safely," Palpatine said to Revan.

"The Queen's safety is our priority, Senator," Revan said studying Palpatine's face.

"Of course, Knight Revan," he said offering a smile and then turned his attention back to the Queen. "When I received the message, I immediately informed the Supreme Chancellor that you arrived on Coruscant. He scheduled a special session for tomorrow."

Padme nodded. "In light of what happened on Naboo, what do you think the reaction of the Senate will be?"

In meantime Revan was analyzing the situation. If there was more to the senator, then he could be a Sith or, perhaps, the senator was working for the Sith. Quite unexpected, but it was possible. Anyone could be a Sith. And when Revan thought about it, the conflict with the Trade Federation was advantageous for Palpatine. Even now he was a very popular politician. If the Trade Federation would have succeeded in assassinating the Queen, it would drive the Supreme Chancellor out of his chair, while Palpatine would get even more popular.

If he was a Sith, then Revan's name in combination with Mission's encounter with the two darksiders would probably make his real identity obvious for the Sith. It wouldn't be a problem if it hadn't been Palpatine. He was just a few feet away from Padme and Mission and considering the complexity of their Alchemy he had to be quite powerful. The next huge problem was his status. He was a senator and being a Sith wasn't a crime. Revan couldn't attack him without making himself a target for Law Enforcement.

There was only a single way out of the situation. He had to expose the senator. Either he is a Sith or he is not. "_Be prepared to get Padme and move away from the senator,_" he said to Mission using the bond. The Twi'lek got surprised by sudden use of telepathy, and this got the senator's attention. Revan couldn't afford to act carefully anymore, knowing well that this would alert Jedi, he slammed with the Force into what could be the Palpatine's concealment and the darkness almost immediately filled the room. The change in atmosphere was so great that despite not being Force-sensitive, Padme still was startled by it.

Before doing anything else, Revan threw Padme as gently as possible into his apprentice's arms using the Force and moved to stand between the Sith and Mission, blasting away the furniture. The Sith before him stood up and narrowed his eyes.

"Revan!" Padme shouted, "What are you doing?!"

"I have to ask the same question, Knight Revan," the senator said calmly. "Or should I better say, Darth Revan?"

"Call me as you like," Revan answered keeping his eyes on the Sith. "I don't care."

"As don't I," Palpatine said taking a step to the left. "Attacking a senator in his office isn't very wise."

Moving with the Sith, Revan said, "That's the only reason you're still alive, Sith."

"Such a pity that you've turned your back on the teachings of the Sith," the senator said. "It made you soft."

"We'll see who of us is softer."

The Sith sneered. "But what a shame, as civilized people we can't fight here, can we?"

"Can't help but agree," Revan replied and, keeping his eyes on the Sith, told Padme, "You should sack the senator for doing an awful job, Your Majesty. Launching an invasion against his own world can hardly be considered doing a good job."

"Such a scandalous accusation," the Sith said stepping further to the door. "Do you have any evidences for your claim? I might want to sue you for slander."

"Did I make a claim? You're getting old, Sith; seems like you're losing hearing."

"And you're the one to speak," the Sith told him. "How is that you're still alive after four thousand years?"

"That's something for me to know and you to wonder."

Finally the Sith got to the door and stepped out of the office. "We'll meet again, Revan."

"I'll be waiting, Sith," Revan replied before the door closed and the senator rushed away.

Revan cursed. Why did it have to happen at Coruscant? It was the worst possible place for the confrontation. He was very frustrated by the fact that he couldn't end the Sith here and now or get information about other Sith.

He turned around and said, "We should leave, it's not safe here."

"Sithspit! Why did you let him go?!" Mission exclaimed running with Padme after him.

"I can't believe he is behind it," the Queen whispered.

"We have no evidences," Revan answered. "I couldn't kill him, Mission."

"He's right," Padme said. "If he'd killed him, that would be a murder of a senator."

"Besides, every Jedi on the Coruscant sensed our little argument," Revan continued. "We would be hunted down by the Jedi Order."

Mission snorted and said, "It would still be worth it."

Revan shook his head. "No, it wouldn't. You saw two of them, Mission. And we don't even know if he is one of the two. He might be a pawn. It would probably slow them down, but as I said not worth the trouble. It's very unfortunate that we ran into him like this."

Soon they left the building and sat into a airspeeder and headed to the apartments Revan and Mission owned. He sensed that someone was pursuing them and accelerated ignoring the skylane traffic rules.

"Padme," Revan said, "You should really sack him before he can use the position to his advantage."

Padme nodded and got the holocom from Mission. A few minutes later a figure of the Supreme Chancellor appeared before her.

"Your Majesty, it's..." the Chancellor Valorum began to say before being interrupted by Padme.

"Excuse me, Chancellor, but it's urgent and I can't afford to lose any time, using the usual way to deal with it. As you know, at the beginning of the conflict, I've been granted the emergency powers. Now I use them, discharging Senator Palpatine from his office. In the meantime I will represent the Chommel sector on my own."

After a few moments of a silence, Valorum recovered from the shock and asked, "May I ask you for the reason of the decision?"

"I suspect him to be the one behind the conflict with the Trade Federation," Padme answered.

"You must have been misinformed."

"No, I had a conversation with him a few minutes ago. He's a Sith," Padme said.

Finis Valorum was still unconvinced. "A Sith? With all due respect, Your Majesty. You must be mistaken."

"I am most certainly not mistaken, Chancellor," the Queen said sternly. "Please, make sure that he is immediately stripped of the powers granted by the position."

"I'll do as you wish," the Chancellor said. "However you should be aware that Senator Palpatine is one of my trusted and respected allies in the Senate and without him I will have much less power to help Naboo."

"As I said he's a suspected traitor and I can't allow him to be in power during the conflict with the Trade Federation." Padme paused holding back her breath because Revan made quite a reckless stunt in the air. "Concerning the conflict with the Trade Federation, if forced, I'll deal with it without help of the Senate, but I'm sure that it isn't the solution you're looking for, Chancellor."

"What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

"I will fight fire with fire," she answered and seeing the Revan signaling her said, "I'm afraid I have to end the conversation. I'll see you in the Senate."

When she disabled the holocom, Padme turned around to see what was happening and saw three speeders that were escorting them to the speeder pad. She looked at Revan questioningly.

"Jedi," Mission explained instead. "Six of them. More are nearby as a backup."

"Why?" Padme asked.

"Because of Revan's and the Sith's extreme use of the Force back in the senator's office," she answered. "You may not realize it, but when Revan broke through Palpatine's concealment, the disturbance in the Force was monstrous. I've never felt anything like this."

"That was very unfortunate, but I didn't have time to act subtle," Revan said. "Trying to get away from Jedi would be useless and even detrimental."

"There is the speeder pad," Mission said pointing with a finger.

He nodded and docked the airspeeder. As they got out of the speeder, three pursuing vehicles landed around them and just like Mission said, six Jedi and two droids came out to face the trio. The group was very mixed, but forward came a dark skinned male human.

"You're under arrest for attempt on a senator's life," the man said, his voice was full of authority.

Revan snorted behind the mask. The Sith set Jedi on them. "I don't know what you are talking about, Jedi. We're on a very important diplomatic mission and your interference is _ill-timed_," he said calmly.

Before either could tell anything Padme forced her way to the front and called, "I'm Queen Amidala of the Naboo and these are my Royal Knights serving as bodyguards at the moment. Being an eyewitness I assure you that there was no attempt on the senator's life. In fact just a few minutes ago I released the said senator from his duty for being a suspected traitor, the one behind the recent Blockade of Naboo. I demand to not endanger my diplomatic mission by forcing me to stand in the open as a target for assassins."

Revan smiled, proud of the young Queen. She was on the way to becoming a great politician. He looked around and moved closer to the Padme. There were too many people gawking at the show. Not everyday one could see a ruler of a planet being told by a large group of Jedi that she were under arrest.

Taken aback the Jedi the dark-skinned Jedi looked at the droid, who verified the Queens identity and said, "We weren't aware of this, Your Majesty. I'm Jedi Master Mace Windu, please excuse our rashness. However, your... Royal Knights are Force-users, and..."

"I'm well aware of that and I'm sure that it's not against the law of the Republic," Padme said.

"If you're looking for the source of the recent disturbance in the Force," Revan broke in, "You should look for Senator Palpatine for he is a very powerful Dark Side user. We didn't have any evidences of his crimes though, therefore we had to let him go."

One of the Jedi whispered something to the Jedi Master and his eyes narrowed as he looked at Mission and then at Revan. "We have reports that your Royal Knights have engaged in a fight with members of our Order in the past."

"Ah, of course," Revan said, smiling behind his mask. "I remember our encounter with Qui-Gon Jin and his apprentice."

"I hope they are alive and well," Mission said in exaggeratedly happy voice. "Are they?"

"They are well, but..." Mace Windu said with a frown.

Before the Jedi Master could continue, Revan interrupted him, "We were doing completely legal business on the Nar Shaddaa when we were attacked by them. Of course, we won't press any charges, as I'm sure it was just a little misunderstanding. Now, the matter seems to be resolved, we would like continue our way to safety."

The Jedi Master recovered very quickly and offered, "If you are looking for a safe place to stay, the Jedi Temple would most certainly be the safest one. In the meantime we would be able to talk about the events of this day."

Revan didn't look forward to visiting the Jedi Temple, however, it would be advantageous to tell Jedi about the Sith. Otherwise the Sith might want to take their revenge on him through Padme for ruining their plans, whatever these are. With Jedi Order after them, they would surely have much less time to think about it. He looked at the Queen and nodded.

Padme didn't agree immediately, instead she considered the option for some time, before answering, "We agree."

The Jedi Master nodded and said, "Please, follow our speeders to the Jedi Temple."

As they sat in the airspeeder heading towards the Jedi Temple, Revan thought about Padme's safety again, letting Mission to pilot the speeder. Padme was precious to him like a favorite student and the girl who he taught for years, watched her grow. He was sure that she would now be targeted by the Sith. Considering Padme's importance for his plans at this point of time, Revan couldn't allow something to happen to her, but at the same time he knew that he wouldn't be able to be with her all the time.

Training other Force-sensitives though possible, wasn't an option, because it would take too much time. Mercenaries weren't trustworthy enough to employ them as her bodyguards. Jedi could help, but they would interfere with his plans. There was only one viable option: to construct intelligent and capable enough droids to do the job. Not many, because he wasn't looking forward to a droid rebellion.

For a moment he wondered if HK-47 still existed. The droid was constructed to be quite durable. Perhaps he was the only relict of those times. Since he didn't bother now about secrecy, Revan forced his way through the Sith's Alchemy that clouded farsight and focused on the HK's aura. For a few minutes he sat without any movement. As they were closing to the Jedi Temple, his eyes opened and Revan smiled. The droid was still there, and Revan was sure that the Force would guide him to the droid.

"Padme, what the Sith was that with us being your Royal Knights, by the way?" Mission asked suddenly.

The Queen blushed and looked away. "Well, I had to make up some explanation."

"You could say that we're mercenaries," Mission said.

"That wouldn't sound just as intimidating."

"Right," the Twi'lek muttered. "Now Jedi think that we're some new suspicious organization of Force-users."

"You would look much less suspicious if you hadn't fought the Jedi," Padme noted. "Besides, why do I have to learn about it from the Jedi?"

"Ah... it might have slipped our minds," the Twi'lek said.

"I can only hope that there isn't something even bigger that slipped your minds," the Queen told her and shook her head. "I didn't think that you would be against the idea. I can claim later that I dissolved the organization."

"Don't worry about it, Padme," Revan said with a smile and looked at Arven. "Look at the positive side of this matter. Jedi won't think that we're some suspicious Force-sensitive mercenaries."

"When you say it like this, I think it would be even worse," Mission said with a sigh, landing the airspeeder at the Jedi Temple.


	8. Chapter 7: Royal prerogative

_**A/N: **Well, somehow I wrote one more chapter for the story. Sorry that it took so long, but sometimes we aren't masters of our fate. It's shorter than usual, but I wanted to post at least something :)_

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><p><strong>7. Royal prerogative<strong>

Mission felt giddy standing in the room full of powerful Jedi. Despite Revan's distrust, she harboured great respect for the Order. It had been weird to be around Jedi before, but now when she was a Force-user herself, she felt different; she was one of them. Almost, since her loyalties lie with Revan, not the Order. But both Revan and the Order shared the most important thing: they lived to protect.

Their methods were completely different. Where the Jedi preferred to maintain peace, Revan would start a war to make sure that the Republic prospers. Where the Jedi weren't fast to interfere, Revan preferred an active reaction, letting the Force guide him. Where the Jedi abhorred the Dark Side, Revan believed it could be used with caution as long as there was a need and it didn't rule the user.

"Silence is golden," Revan said. Mission could practically see his eyes gleaming with mirth, "but I assure you, our communication would be more effective if you'd try to talk."

Mission smiled under her mask. Way to start a dialogue with the Jedi Order.

"Indeed," a small green-skinned Jedi said and hummed. "Royal Knights of Naboo you are."

"We've never heard of the organisation," said the dark-skinned human, who had tried to arrest them earlier. Mace Windu was his name.

"It was recently established by Queen Amidala of Naboo to help the efforts of the world in the conflict against the Trade Federation," Revan answered.

"Yet the mask of yours much older is than your organisation," the green Jedi said, who had been introduced as Grand Master Yoda.

Revan had yet to mention his name, but it seemed that the green one was onto his identity. It was hard to tell if other Jedi recognized the mask too, or if they took Yoda's hint. They weren't Jedi Masters for nothing; reading their emotions was nearly impossible.

Revan shook his head. "The mask is just a mask."

"We want to know more about your order," Windu said. This Jedi unlike Yoda didn't recognize Revan.

"I wouldn't call it an order," Revan answered. "I'm afraid, there isn't much to tell you. I'd rather talk about more pressing matters, like my recent meeting with Ex-Senator Palpatine, if you don't mind."

The Jedi exchanged glances and Windu nodded. "We'd like to hear what happened in his office. The disturbance in the Force was tremendous."

"I'll start from the beginning. You should have noticed the powerful Sith Alchemy that clouds everything in the galaxy," Revan said. Mission noticed that the most of the Jedi nodded. "However, my apprentice was able to break through the Alchemy in her youthful recklessness and found two Sith behind it."

Mission glared at him. Youthful recklessness… She felt his amusement through the bond and had a strong desire to use the Force to choke him. Yep, peace is a lie, there is only passion. She sighed.

The Jedi exchanged glances worriedly. "Sith? As far as we know their teachings are dead," said one of the Jedi.

Revan sighed tiredly. "As long as there is Force, there'll always be Sith. To be as arrogant as to believe otherwise is foolish. Ignorance is bliss, isn't it?"

Mission got nervous. She didn't think it was a good idea to insult Jedi while standing in the middle of the Council Chamber. She glanced at the Jedi; some of them seemed to be annoyed, but the majority didn't show any emotion. There was, however, a hint of amusement in Yoda's eyes.

"And who is more arrogant? We... or you who believe to know more about Force than the Jedi Council?" Windu asked.

"You should introduce yourself properly," Yoda said with a frown. "No reason to keep up with the charade."

"Indeed, sooner or later you'll learn my true identity, but you already know who I am, Master Yoda, don't you? I was once known as Jedi Knight Revan, but also Dark Lord of the Sith Revan. I am both and neither now."

"A bold claim," Master Windu said as quite a few Jedi gasped at hearing the name. "Revan has been one with the Force for thousands years."

"Yet here I am by the will of the Force. I hope I don't have to tell the Jedi Council to listen to the Force."

Mission sensed a shift in the Force and studied Revan through the Force. She nearly gasped. He released his concealment. He had never done it since they had leaped through time and reality. Now she knew why he had always kept himself hidden. His presence was so... bright. The only other similarly powerful presences in the room were Master Yoda and Master Windu, but Revan's was still unique.

"Truth it is," Yoda said, "but it matters not; we have more important issues to talk about."

Revan gave him a nod. "As I was saying, my apprentice saw the Sith, alas not their identities. They aren't Dark Jedi or other users of the Dark Side, they are Sith. We came to the conclusion that the Sith are behind the Blockade of Naboo and helped the Queen to leave Naboo as soon as the Trade Federation launched an invasion. We arrived on Coruscant and met Senator Palpatine. I sensed taint of the Dark Side and forcefully broke his concealment. You felt the resulting disturbance in the Force.

"Palpatine is an extremely powerful Sith. I'm certain that it would be a very difficult battle, if he'd choose to fight me. For better or worse he was cautious and retreated. I can't be sure that he is one of the two my apprentice saw, but, most likely, he is. A Sith of his power wouldn't tolerate someone else's rule over him… unless he has yet something to learn from his Master. Unfortunately, I can't fully dismiss the possibility of him being a powerful pawn for even more powerful Sith."

"Troubling it is; so close the Sith was all this time, but him suspected we not," Yoda said.

A quermian Jedi asked, "Do you know what they are trying to accomplish with the Blockade of Naboo?"

"To take control of the Senate, of course," Revan explained. "Palpatine was influential. If the Trade Federation had succeeded in assassinating or capturing the Queen, Senate would get sympathetic to his cause. At the same time the failure to protect sovereignty of Naboo would destroy the current Supreme Chancellor. A Sith would be elected as a Supreme Chancellor.

"Perhaps there is more to the Blockade and subsequent invasion, but I don't want to make unfounded assumptions. Schemings of Sith are rarely simple. Thus, be prepared that they have a contingency plan. A marionette Chancellor, maybe... but again, I don't have any evidences."

"Is there something else you can add?" Windu asked cautiously eyeing Revan.

"No," he answered and as the Jedi was about to say something else, Revan said: "Before you ask me, I have no wish rejoining the Order."

Yoda hummed. "It is regrettable, but unexpected it is not. We won't detain you any longer, you may go."

Mission's road of life certainly was running uphill, considering that she was in the Senate box. Hopefully she wouldn't reach its peak for a while. She had visited Coruscant many times during the last years, but she had never been at the Senate Building. It was massive, but it was even more impressive inside, although she couldn't help but get nervous, sitting in the box before the whole Senate was quite.

In the front of the box stood Padme, looking very regal in her complex attire, which was bought just a few hours ago. Rabé, the handmaiden, had struggled to help the queen prepare for the Senate session. It had clearly been difficult for her to do the work intended for more than a single handmaiden. Mission wondered why fashion of Naboo was so weird…

"The chair recognizes the senator from the sovereign system of Naboo," Supreme Chancellor Valorum said interrupting Mission's train of thoughts. "Senator Palpatine was discharged from his duty. The Chommel Sector is represented by Queen Amidala of the Naboo until a new delegate is elected."

As the Senate box glided towards the center of the arena, Padme stood and looked about at the senators. "Honourable representatives of the Republic, distinguished delegates, and Supreme Chancellor Valorum. I come to you under the gravest of circumstances. In repudiation and violation of the laws of the Republic, the Naboo have been invaded and subjugated by force of droid armies of the Trade Federation..."

And then it began… A representative of the Trade Federation objected and everything went downhill from that point on. Mission glanced at Padme and sighed. It was utterly useless trying to convince the Senate to help. It was heartbreaking to look at the young Queen, who was slowly losing her faith in the Senate. Revan had warned her to expect the very reaction but Mission knew from her own experience that people always hoped for the best until their hopes got crushed by the merciless reality.

"Queen Amidala of the Naboo," said the Supreme Chancellor,"will you defer your motion in order to allow a Senate commission to explore the validity of your accusations?"

"I will not defer," the Queen replied. "I have come before you to resolve this attack on Naboo sovereignty now. I was not elected Queen to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in committee. If the Republic isn't capable of protecting sovereignty of its member state, I'm forced to take matters into my own hands. Every citizen of the Republic has the right to defend oneself. The same applies to the member worlds of the Republic. I do not appeal to the Senate again. I make a public announcement, informing the Senate and the Trade Federation about my stance.

"I, Queen Amidala of the Naboo, representing millions of my people give the Trade Federation give the last chance to resolve the conflict peacefully."

Senator Lott Dod from the Trade Federation tried to object, but found himself choked by an invisible force. Mission had seen Revan's hand twitch a little, but she doubted that anyone could have seen that too. The neimoidian fell into his chair, gasping for air.

"The Naboo was at peace with the Trade Federation and was still in conversations looking toward a peaceful resolution of existing differences, when we were suddenly and deliberately invaded by the force of droid armies. By the inaction the Senate and the Republic leaves us no choice but to defend the sovereignty of the Naboo ourselves. Following are my terms. I will not deviate from them."

"The Trade Federation shall cease its unlawful occupation immediately, withdraw all forces of invasion, lift the blockade and pay reparations for the damage caused by the unlawful blockade and invasion. Those responsible for the numerous crimes against my people shall be brought for trial. If the Trade Federation fails to concede within forty eight hours or commits another act of aggression against the sovereign state of Naboo, the Trade Federation will be prompt and utter destroyed.

"If the Trade Federation refuses to concede, we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that an encroachment upon our sovereignty shall never happen again."

With that Padme moved the box to the wall. There was no reason to stay at the Senate, which went completely silent for a few seconds. Mission was aware that Padme had practically used her royal prerogative to declare war. It was giving the Trade Federation an advantage of actually getting away with everything they had done, because not a single Senator though that the Naboo would be able to fight back. Despite the impressive speech, all they saw was a deluded child threatening a giant krayt dragon with a stick. But they didn't know that thanks to the Star Forge the elected Queen of the Naboo was a Commander-in -Chief of a largest navy in the Republic...


	9. Chapter 8: Sending ripples

_A/N: I changed the name of the handmaiden who went with Padme. It's Rabé, not Yané. Apparently I mistook one for another, which isn't all that surprising. One doesn't see their faces all that often, nor does one hear their names :)_

_Not much happens in the chapter, I'm just showing the ripples :)_

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><p><strong>8. Sending ripples.<strong>

Sidious was watching the live broadcast from the Senate. His face was betraying his foul mood. Nothing went as planned. It was a complete disaster. His and Plagueis' real identities were now known to the Jedi. Although his master could still claim that he hadn't been aware that Sidious was a Sith, but Jedi could still suspect something. The Senate was closed for Sidious now. All because of one man.

Sidious saw Revan and his apprentice were standing by her side. He was still unsure what to think about the Jedi… or the Sith who had somehow returned from death or had never died in first place. If he hadn't known Lott Dod well enough, he would have missed how Revan used the Force to silence the Senator. He was nothing like Jedi and thus unpredictable and dangerous.

"...the Trade Federation fails to concede within forty eight hours or commits another act of aggression against the sovereign state of Naboo, the Trade Federation will be prompt and utter destroyed," the Queen declared.

Sidious widened his eyes briefly. That… was unexpected. If it wasn't for Revan, he would have believed that the Queen was bluffing, but with the ancient Jedi by her side, he knew, she was telling the truth.

"It seems that all the time we were playing right into Revan's hands," Plagueis said.

"Indeed," Sidious agreed. "The girl's father had told me once that she had been taught by someone, but I had unfortunately dismissed the information as non-essential."

"Yes, it was a mistake," the muun said. "Ironically Revan choose the same world and the same person to get what he needs. It is rather obvious that it has been his plan all along, to use the girl in order to gain a legal opportunity to establish his forces, wherever he has been hiding them all the time. I can only applaud him, a plan worthy of a Sith."

"The question is, who is Revan now? He behaved like a Jedi when we were… talking, but his actions speak otherwise. I sensed the Dark Side in Revan and his apprentice, he used the Force to silence Dod, he is clearly building an army of his own for unknown goals, and if it's able to destroy the Trade Federation as the girl claims, it will be enough to cause panic in the Senate."

"We'll have to lay low for a while and observe. Sooner or later he'll reveal his agenda."

"However, we could use the situation for our own gain," Sidious suggested, aware that despite the loss, they still had influence over the Senate. "An armed conflict between the Naboo and the Trade Federation will ruin Valorum."

"Yes," the muun agreed, "we should make sure that the new Supreme Chancellor will be someone we'll be able to control easily."

Sidious nodded. He had planned to kill Plagueis after becoming the Supreme Chancellor, but it wasn't the wisest thing to do now. Maul was too weak to be an ally, and Sidious would need someone strong on his side in the coming times. He needed Plagueis no matter how much he wished to kill his master. However, Sidious was patient; he would wait for the right moment...

* * *

><p>Yoda hummed as he listened to the Queen's speech. It was difficult to tell what Revan's intentions were, but he doubted it bode well for the Republic. It was disconcerting, but the Jedi Order couldn't do anything about it because Revan had yet to do something criminal.<p>

"Watch him closely we must," Yoda said. "Dangerous he may be."

Revan's sudden re-emergence sent ripples through the Order. Although the Council decided to keep the most of the conversation with Revan secret, the word about the Royal Knights spread through the whole Temple like wildfire. Revan had been a legend before. Now, however, he was a living legend. Everyone knew already that he refused to rejoin the Order, instead he had established his own. Yoda hoped that it wouldn't come to a schism.

"We still have to verify his words. We sensed the Dark Side in both him and his apprentice. The same was reported by Qui-Gon Jinn. They may be the Sith themselves and their words may be an attempt to cover their tracks."

"He may, but know that we do not. He was known to use the Dark Side, disregarding the Jedi Council's opinion. Investigated this matter should be."

"Allow me to do it," the third Jedi said suddenly.

Windu and Yoda turned to him in surprise. Dooku had been behaving strangely for the last years since the Battle of Galidraan. Yoda knew that the Galidraan was a horrible fiasco, which affected Dooku greatly. He had been reluctant to accept any missions from the Jedi Order. Why was Dooku suddenly so interested in the matters of the Order?

"How would you go about it?" Windu asked.

"I have a few ideas," Dooku said, "but I want to approach Revan directly. I may convince him to allow me to join him on their way back to Naboo. I'll be there to observe, how they plan to resolve the conflict."

Yoda nodded. It was worth doing. Even if Revan was a Sith, he wouldn't deliberately harm Dooku to keep his name clean, while his former padawan was strong enough to find a safe way out, if things wouldn't go as planned.

"Then do it," Windu agreed.

Dooku nodded and strode away Yoda and Windu. Something had changed the moment Revan had confronted Palpatine… if he had confronted Palpatine. The disturbance in the Force had meant more than just loss of concealment.

* * *

><p>They were boarding for departure to Naboo when Revan sensed the Jedi approaching their starship. He anticipated that they would try to talk to him before he would leave Coruscant. The Queen's words were, obviously, worrying and it was completely logical to attempt to learn more about the situation. Revan turned to face the Jedi and studied him through the Force. The Jedi was old, but very strong in the Force.<p>

"Your Majesty," the Jedi greeted Padme, who stood next to Revan. "I'm Master Dooku."

"_Do a background check on Jedi Master Dooku,_" Revan sent Mission a telepathic message.

"We don't have much time, Master Dooku," Revan said. "If the Jedi Council wishes to see me again, I must decline."

"No, they don't wish to speak with you again. I would say that I was sent by the Council, but that would be a lie, because I have my own reasons to be here. The Senate did unjust to you, Your Majesty. It once again proved to be a parcel of fools who listen only to themselves. Lobbies rule the Republic. You wish to fight it and I'd like to watch it, and perhaps to help you in your endeavor."

"_He's one of the strongest and most respected Jedi Masters of the Order,_" Mission answered telepathically.

"Shouldn't the Jedi Council authorize a mission?" Revan asked.

He gave a short nod. "It should. However, in theory I'm authorized to come with you, but I didn't share my real reasons for joining you. I'm honestly tired of the hypocrisy of the Order and the corruption in the Republic."

Revan could sense that Dooku was speaking truth. Even without Force he could hear the annoyance in the voice of the Jedi when he spoke about the Order and the disgust when he mentioned the Republic. Force was telling him that he could trust Dooku for now. Not that it would mean that Revan wouldn't watch the Jedi. He could be a spy for both the Jedi Order and the Sith. However, a Jedi like him could become a very useful ally.

"Your Majesty?" Revan said, looking at Padme expectantly. Formally, she was the Commander-in-Chief and it was her decision.

"Welcome aboard, Master Dooku," she said.

* * *

><p>The Naboo Royal Starship left the atmosphere of the Tatooine and the pilots were preparing the vessel for the hyperspace jump when they received an incoming transmission bearing Queen Amidala's personal signature. Neither Ric Olie nor Obi-Wan bothered to consider opening it, since it was obviously impossible for the Queen to send messages from Coruscant, while being aboard of her starship in the middle of Arkanis sector. He was about to dismiss it as a trick when he was interrupted by the Queen of the Naboo.<p>

"Play the transmission," she ordered.

"It's obviously a trick, Your Majesty," Obi-Wan said, holding back a tired sigh. "If I establish connection, the Trade Federation might get a trace."

"The transmission bears Queen Amidala's signature, thus it's genuine," the Queen said.

Obi-Wan blinked in confusion. "I'm not sure what you mean by claiming it's genuine. You can't be on Coruscant and here at the same time."

A brief smile graced her lips. "That's because I'm not Queen Amidala, but her handmaiden."

Obi-wan's opened his mouth to retort, but found himself at a loss for words. Then he groaned and placed both hands on his face, embarrassed by the fact that he and his master had been tricked like that. He hadn't even felt a deception. The handmaiden giggled softly.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I was instructed to play the role as long as it was necessary for security reasons."

The handmaiden gave him an encryption key and the Jedi opened the transmission. The real Queen looked a lot like the handmaiden. Obi-wan had to admit that it was ingenious to use decoys like that. How and when the real Queen had managed to escape… that was something to guess, or ask the handmaiden.

"Captain Panaka, Sabé," the Queen spoke. "I hope one of you receives the message. I have information from a reliable source that you'll be soon leaving Tatooine or are already on the way to Coruscant. My mission to the Senate was unsuccessful, the Senate refused to listen to our plight. I'm forced to take extreme measures to save our planet from the Trade Federation.

"I issued my ultimatum to the Trade Federation. The deadline is set for 2:6:16:15:00. If the Trade Federation doesn't concede I'll be taking back our world by force. In the attachment to the message you'll find coordinates and the hyperspace route to certain place in the Iskin sector. I'll be waiting for your arrival with my fleet until the deadline.

"Inform Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his padawan that the Jedi Council is already aware of the situation. If they wish to be on their way to Coruscant, I'll provide them with a starship once you rejoin me; otherwise they're free to stay with my fleet for the duration of the liberation campaign."

The Jedi blinked again. The message was ridiculous! These people from Naboo would drive him insane. First was Jar-Jar with the gungans, then the Queen who turned out to be a handmaiden and then some fleet that would fight the Trade Federation. He glanced at Sabé and asked, "Fleet? What fleet?"

* * *

><p>A young blond boy sat shivering in a central room of the starship, thinking of his mother. He missed her already, missed her so much. He didn't even know if he would ever have a chance to see her again. Would he be able to get back to free her? Everyone was sleeping, but he couldn't sleep, troubled by the changes in his life.<p>

"What are you doing here, Annie?"

Anakin almost screamed in fright, but the voice was familiar. She was the girl, who had been in Mos Espa with Qui-Gon. She had been nice to him and he liked her a lot. Her name was Yané. Being thirteen she had been the youngest aboard the vessel before he joined them.

"N-nothing," he muttered, trying to stop crying and hide tears.

Apparently, he failed and she noticed it. Yané came closer and hugged him. Surprisingly, he felt better. At least it wasn't cold anymore, although he wasn't sure what exactly made him feel warm. Her care for him or her warm embrace.

"Everything is going to be all right," she said softly.

Anakin felt a lump in his throat and didn't say anything for a few moments. Instead he took a snippet out of his pocket.

"Here," he said, "I made this for you. So you would remember me. I carved it out of a japor snippet. Take it. It will bring you good fortune."

Yané smiled and kissed him on his cheek. Anakin blushed watching her slipping the snippet around her neck.

"Thank you, it's beautiful," she said. Then she added sternly: "But, why do you think I would forget my future husband?"

A faint smile appeared on his face. "Of course, you... wouldn't, Yané." He scratched his head and whispered sheepishly: "Silly me."

Yané giggled and kissed him again. "Let's go to bed, you should get some sleep. I'll stay with you, I promise."


	10. Chapter 9: Determination

**A/N:** _It took a bit more time than I anticipated, but I hope you'll like the chapter._

* * *

><p><strong>9. Determination.<strong>

Padme stood on the bridge of the largest vessel of the fleet. The Vigilant-class dreadnought was a monstrous four kilometre long vessel designed by Mission Vao, inspired, ironically, by the dagger-shaped starships of the long gone Sith Empire.

Although the design was nothing like the ships manufactured by the Nubia Star Drives for the rulers of the Naboo, Padme found it beautiful in its own way. The thought was, however, disgusting. How could anything made for war, for killing people be beautiful? She clenched her fists, cursing silently the Trade Federation and the corrupt Senators for forcing her to go against all her beliefs.

Truth be told, Padme was scared to give a green light to the fleet. She hadn't realized until now, how tremendous would be the consequences. She couldn't just hide or destroy the fleet after the war against the Trade Federation and pretend that nothing had happened. The whole Republic would know about the fleet and they would act accordingly, expecting the warmongering queen to conquer the Republic. Although she had to admit the idea was appealing in the light of inability of the Republic to protect her world.

Padme sighed and looked at Revan, who was sitting on the middle of the room, deep in meditation. Thank the Stars he had been with her all the years and didn't leave her even during these difficult times. She could only wonder why the Force sent Revan to her. An ally, a teacher, a saviour, her Royal Knight. Her eyes turned to Mission and she blushed, embarrassed that she forgot about Mission for a moment. Just like Revan, the Twi'lek was there for her too.

She turned her head to look at the Jedi who stood right before the panoramic window studying the fleet. She had been wary of him at first, but Padme was pleasantly surprised. She had still expected him to react badly when he saw the fleet, but it seemed as though Dooku was excited at the sight.

"Shouldn't Jedi maintain peace?" she asked Dooku.

"Peace, Your Majesty?" Dooku said thoughtfully. "The Jedi Order became nothing but a tool in hands of the Senate, which is drowning in corruption and bureaucracy. If the Senate is controlled by lobbies and the Jedi Order by the Senate, what kind of peace would the Order forge? Or rather for whom? For people of the Republic, for oppressed words like yours, or for those who can pay more credits? Do mercenaries have any right to speak about peace?"

Her eyes almost widened at these words, but she suppressed her emotions. "You're talking as if you weren't Jedi yourself."

"I'm Jedi... for now," he said quietly. "Tell me, what are you going to do, when you reclaim the Naboo?"

Padme hesitated to reply, but Dooku waited patiently. "I have yet to decide that."

"You declared war on the Trade Federation, and it won't be over when your fleet reclaims your world. Everyone in the Republic will turn their eyes to you. The Senate will demand to stop war, perhaps even going as far in their fear of the might of this fleet as to blame you for instigating this conflict."

Trying to stay impassive, Padme clenched her fists harder, her nails dug painfully into her palms.

"While those oppressed by the likes of the Trade Federation will look at you hopefully," spoke Dooku, "begging you to lead your armies further to fight injustice born in corruption and impotence of the Galactic Senate. Are you aware of consequences?"

_Civil war. _As much as she hoped that it wouldn't lead to more bloodshed, she knew that the moment she had agreed to use the fleet, gears of war which had lain dormant for many hundred years began to turn again. All she wanted was to see the Trade Federation surrender and leave her world alone, but would she be able to ignore the pleas of those in need? That would make her exactly the same sort of person as the Senators, who had refused to help her.

"I'm well aware of the consequences and I'm ready to bear them," she said firmly.

Dooku nodded and said, "Then my lightsaber is yours."

"Are you saying that you want to be part of the Royal Knights?"

There was a glint of amusement in his eyes as his answered, "Don't take me for a fool, I know that it's a ruse. I'm willing to go along with it, however, as long as it serves purpose."

Padme was wary to agree. She hadn't asked Revan before "founding" the Royal Knights and was still unsure why she had done that. Accepting another member into her "Royal Knights" without asking him would be inappropriate.

"He'd be a welcome addition," Revan said, as if reading her thoughts. His eyes remained closed.

"However, you're still a Jedi," she reminded Dooku.

"I was thinking about leaving the Order for years already," the Jedi said.

"A ship dropped out of hyperspace," Mission interrupted them. "It's the Naboo Royal Starship. Hailing them… I believe you're better suited to talk to them, Your Majesty. The Jedi aboard might react badly when they see me."

Padme nodded with a smile as she recalled Mission's and Revan's history with Qui-Gon Jinn and his padawan. She had learnt about them during her stay at the Jedi Temple. A holoscreen appeared right in front of her. She recognized her handmaiden. Captain Panaka stood behind her with another man in Jedi robes.

"Your Majesty," they greeted her. Padme saw that they were confused and wanted to ask about the fleet, but she would answer the question later.

"I'm glad that you could make it in time," Padme said. "Disable engines, we'll use tractor beam to bring the ship into our docking bay."

Revan and Dooku left the bridge to meet the guests, leaving Padme with Mission. She looked at the Twi'lek and sighed.

"What do you think about the Jedi?" she asked. "Do you think he was telling truth?"

"I didn't sense deception, Padme," she said. "Neither did Revan. However, we're inclined to believe that he's really deeply disappointed with the Order and the Republic. We don't have access to the Jedi Archives, but we have access to the archive of the Judicial Department.

"On the way here I found and read as much information as possible about Dooku. As you know the Jedi Order is, theoretically, an apolitical organization, its goal is to maintain peace, not to fight wars for the Republic. Long story cut short, the Jedi Order should serve the greater good, paying little regard to politics.

"Instead the Council allows the Republic to use Jedi as bantha fodder in conflicts that require military intervention, not Jedi. Furthermore, Jedi should resolve the conflicts in the different manner. It's as though they forgot the Jedi Code: _there is no ignorance, there is knowledge_. They shouldn't blindly trust politicians and do horrible mistakes in their ignorance. But that's exactly what the Jedi Order does.

"The prime example, but not the only one, would be the Galidraan, where the Gouverneur hired True Mandalorians to eliminate rebels, and then tricked Jedi Order into killing the Mandalorians; Jedi killed almost all of them, leaving only one alive. Just as Dooku said, the Jedi were dying to forge peace for the corrupt politician, completely disregarding the interests of other people, and even killing innocents.

"Truth be told, I was shocked, when I read about Galidraan and other debacles. Unlike Revan I do respect the Jedi Order for what they're_ trying_ to do, but I don't understand what the Jedi Council is thinking. It's no surprise to me that Dooku wants to leave the Order. However, Revan and I agree that he isn't to be trusted explicitly yet."

Padme turned around and looked through the panoramic window at the fleet thoughtfully. She had made a difficult decision to use the fleet, but was it the right one?

"I want to defeat the Trade Federation, I want them to surrender and leave my world alone. I'm forced to use the fleet, because there is no other way. The Naboo is a peaceful world; we don't have enough forces to fight for our freedom and sovereignty. And so I use the armies you give me, but what if I'm doing it out of ignorance? What if I'm doing a horrible mistake just like Jedi on Galidraan?"

"I trust Revan," Mission answered. "I know, that even during his time as a Sith Lord, he still was trying to do some good. Of course, many would disagree... but he was trying to prepare the Republic for an inevitable invasion. Maybe there was another way… most likely, there was another way, if he hadn't descended so deep into the Darkness. But we aren't omniscient, we're prone to make mistakes, nevertheless we must try to avoid them and minimize the consequences of our mistakes. Do you have another choice, Padme?"

She shook her head. "No, but perhaps you could resolve the conflict without this fleet."

"So, you propose we take our lightsabers and fight the Trade Federation alone?"

"No!" Padme answered, looking at Mission again. "That's not what I..."

"It's all right. You know…" Mission stopped talking and sighed. Her face was still covered by the hood and the mask, but Padme could tell that her friend was very distressed. "By the Force! I'm sorry, Padme. It's our fault, we shouldn't have let you make the choice. Perhaps, you're right, and we should simply infiltrate…"

Padme came closer and put her arms around the Twi'lek. "Mission, it's not your fault, to blame are the Galactic Senate and the Trade Federation. Infiltration is risky…"

"We can handle a bunch of droids," Mission argued.

"Maybe, maybe not. I made my choice already. I spoke before the Senate and can't go back on my word, otherwise I will never be taken seriously again. Besides, if I don't fight, who will?"

"We will, Padme, you shouldn't..."

"I must," Padme interrupted the Twi'lek with a newfound resolve. "I went into politics to change things, to do some good. I won't sit idly as a coward, while you're risking your lives doing my job... for it's my job, as a politician, to work hard for the better future of the people who had elected me and had trusted me to make the hard decisions. This fleet will crush the Trade Federation and their defeat will be our warning to all those who mean to oppress the defenceless."

Mission stood silent for a few seconds and then nodded respectfully. "They'll be here in a minute, Your Majesty."

Padme smiled. "I appreciate the warning, Knight Arven."

Soon the door opened and she saw Revan walking in the head of a large group. Behind him were three Jedi: Dooku, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. She hadn't seen the latter two before, so she studied them, trying to judge their characters by the appearances. The older one, Qui-Gon Jinn, looked very calm as though he wasn't aboard of the flagship of her fleet, but somewhere on Alderaan, enjoying a nice day.

The younger Jedi wasn't as emotionless as his Master. Even she noticed that he was unnerved by the fleet… and her Royal Knights. She caught Obi-Wan looking suspiciously at Revan. When he saw Mission, the Twi'lek got the same look. Right behind the three Jedi walked a Gungan and a young blond boy holding hands with Yané. Padme raised an eyebrow for a brief moment. How had the Gungan and the boy ended up on board of her starship?

A faint smile crept onto her lips as she saw her handmaidens. She had been so worried for them and now seeing them alive and well, she wanted to hug them. Especially Sabé, who had risked her life posing as the Queen. But Padme stood in the front of the room, looking at her people, her friends and her allies. What a strange company.

"I hope you had an uneventful journey from the Tatooine," she said after introductions were made. "Will Master Jinn and his padawan stay?"

"For the time being, we decided to stay," Qui-Gon answered.

She nodded. "Good. As of now, the Trade Federation didn't make any move to concede to my demands, but they still have two hours."

* * *

><p><em>AN: I promise there will be some action in the next chapter :)_


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